We Write, We Resist, In Our Own Words: Decolonising Knowledge and Resisting Casteist Epistemic Hegemony through Dalit and Muslim Realities

The paper critically examines the phenomenological analysis of systemic marginalisation and epistemic appropriation of Dalit and Muslim experiences in South Asian postcolonial academic discourse. It explores the complexities of caste, religion, and social exclusion in academia, interrogating how upper-caste scholars commodify the lived realities of Dalit and Muslim communities to reinforce their intellectual authority. Employing decolonial theory, Ambedkarite thought, and Southern epistemologies, the study highlights extractive academic practices that marginalise subaltern voices, perpetuating hegemonic, casteist knowledge structures. Through Participatory Action Research (PAR) and interphenomenological analysis, the paper foregrounds the agency of Dalit and Muslim scholars, challenging dominant academic norms that erase subaltern agency and appropriate their intellectual labour without ethical engagement. It utilises Bourdieu’s habitus and Foucault’s power/knowledge framework to demonstrate how individual agency and structural constraints shape the experiences of marginalised scholars in South Asian academia. Informed by Naples’ insider perspective, the study explores reflexivity in insider/outsider dynamics, advocating for epistemic justice through decolonising and debrahmanising scholarship by centring Dalit and Muslim epistemologies. It calls for spaces where marginalised scholars are integral to knowledge production, envisioning a transformative academic paradigm that transcends tokenism and challenges institutional complicity while advocating for global solidarity for epistemic equality. The paper advocates dismantling casteist and colonial epistemic hierarchies for a more inclusive, equitable academia.