Social Change In Gerald Zaltmann And The Term Dalit

In the words of Maclever and Page, Social change refers to “a process responsive to many types of changes, to changes in the man-made (human-made) conditions of life, to changes in the attitudes and beliefs of men (or women), and to the changes that go beyond the human control to the biological and physical nature of things.” T.B. Bottomore defines Social Change as “a change in social structure, or in particular social institutions or the relationships between institutions.” Kingsley Davis defined social change as “such alternations as occur in social organization, that is, structure and functions of society.” For B. Kuppuswmy it is “some change in social behaviour, social structure and social and cultural values.” Gerald Zaltmann and

As a noun, Dalit may be used for all three genders – masculine, feminine and neuter. When Dalit used as a noun or adjective, it means burst, split, broken, or torn asunder, downtrodden, crushed, destroyed. The term Dalit to be used in throughout this study to refer those groups/communities who were categorized as “Outcastes” or “Untouchables” by Hindu hierarchy. Hindu society had also called them Avarnas (ones without color, category or class), Chandala (filthy ones) and low-castes. Hindus considered them ritually defiled and thereby untouchable. Dalits are those who by the virtue of their birth did not belong to the caste hierarchy of Hindu society yet lived at its fringes. Missionary sources have identified them as Panchamas (fifth ones) or “Outcasts.” The leaders of Indian National Congress of twentieth century referred to them as Harijans (implying illegal offspring of temple prostitutes who could only be identified as children of God) while the British administration classified them as “Scheduled Castes.” The latest list approved by the President of India in 1976 listed fifty-nine communities as part of the Scheduled Castes. But these communities today call themselves Dalits. Jothirao Phule was the first one to use this word to describe these communities as the oppressed and broken victims of Indian society. In the 1970s, the followers of the Dalit Panther Movement of Maharashtra gave currency to the term Dalit as a constant reminder of their age-old oppression, denoting both their state of deprivation and the people as a caste in general who are oppressed. By occupation, Dalits were landless agricultural labourers. They also tanned the leather of dead animals, and made shoes. The British and Nizam administrations used their services as village watchmen and peons. Hence, the term Dalit or Dalit Christian, will be used throughout