Globalisation and Dalit Livelihoods: Threats, Opportunities, and Resilience

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Abstract

Globalisation, driven by rapid economic liberalisation, technological expansion, and the integration of global markets, has fundamentally reshaped India’s socio-economic landscape. For Dalits historically marginalised through caste-based exclusion, landlessness, and occupational exclusion—globalisation presents a paradox. While it has created new avenues for mobility, it has also intensified vulnerabilities in labor markets already structured by caste hierarchies. This paper critically examines the complex relationship between globalisation and Dalit livelihoods, highlighting the coexistence of threats, emerging opportunities, and diverse forms of community resilience. The restructuring of labor under globalisation has led to a dramatic expansion of contract-based and informal sector employment. Dalits are over-represented in low-wage manual labor, sanitation work, construction, and the agricultural sector, where they face higher levels of job insecurity, wage discrimination, and limited access to social mobility. The decline of traditional agrarian livelihoods due to agrarian capitalism, reduced state support, and corporate penetration has further pushed Dalit households into unstable urban labor markets. This study draws on the political economy of caste, social exclusion theory, and the intersectionality approach to examine how neoliberal globalisation interacts with existing caste inequalities. It also employs Sen’s Capability Approach to assess the enhancement or erosion of opportunities available to Dalit communities. Together, these frameworks capture the multidimensional nature of Dalit vulnerability and mobility. Yet, globalisation is not uniformly exclusionary. The proliferation of education, digital technologies, skill-based employment, and urban service sectors has enabled Dalit youth to pursue new forms of social and political mobility. Dalit entrepreneurs have begun accessing global markets, supported by microfinance and state-driven networks. Globalisation has also facilitated digital platforms that challenge caste discrimination, assert identity, and build global solidarity.

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