‘But He Is Only a Human, So Why Do They Hate Them? Because of His Job?’: Children's Critical Co‐Inquiries on Caste, Privilege and Positionality

ABSTRACT

Caste hierarchies in India place children within a complex system of oppressor‐oppressed relationships that structurally reinforce practices of othering. This paper draws on research with children from privileged caste communities, raising critical consciousness of caste oppression in a primary school classroom in New Delhi, India. It focuses on children's dialogues about their identities, privilege and positionality. The study was conducted over a period of 8 months, with three iterative cycles of inquiries and participatory approaches to co‐research with 12 children (10‐year‐olds) in a grade 5 classroom. Informed by critical qualitative, arts‐based, and play‐based methods, data generated with children included inquiry walls, child‐led interviews, drawings, podcasts, zines, maps, comics, puppets and theatre performances. Children's shifting understandings of caste‐based otherness, i.e., from ‘us and them’ conversations to ideas of solidarity and being anti‐caste allies, are explored. The paper discusses implications for addressing systemic barriers which limit children's agency for engaging in anti‐caste work in their schools, communities and society.