Mentality and psychological construction of cast(ed) social in making of caste village: Dalits affective encounters in university space

Caste operates as a deeply ingrained moral and psychological framework within Indian universities, shaping interactions, perceptions, beliefs and mental hierarchies. This study explores Dalit students’ experiences of shame, ridicule, fear, and marginalisation, highlighting how upper-caste mentalities produce internalised inferiority and reinforce social otherness. This study was conducted in Odisha, a coastal state of India, focusing on areas with a significant concentration of Dalit populations. This study unfold the affective dynamics both constrain and enable subtle resistance to cast(ed) norms. Drawing on theories of the social psyche, humiliation, and emotive social construction, the paper contrasts the emotional worlds of Dalit and upper-caste students, teachers, and staff, revealing caste as a ‘psychic’ as well as ‘structural force’ that governs identity, agency, everyday practices and the possibilities for contestation in academic spaces.