Dalit Communists in Kerala: Intimacy, Extimacy, and Political Participation

In Kerala, Dalit communities offer the only critical, objective accounts of the CPM, unlike others who give hagiographical narratives. Dalits remain steadfast CPM voters due to party stability, yet are culturally excluded from its core networks. They experience "extimate inclusion"—central to the party yet held apart, never intimate. This complex relationship shapes Dalit communist identity.