The Other Half of the Coconut: Women Writing Self-Respect History

The Self-Respect Movement in India launched by Periyar in 1926 questioned the way in which the lower castes were systematically excluded from the Indian nation and constructed as the 'Other' by the Brahmin elites. While the movement has received scholarly attention, women Self-Respecters and the issues they raised have gone largely unnoticed. This collection of essays and fiction by women Self-Respecters translated from the Tamil could serve as the material basis for writing an alternative history of the movement.