Caste Critical Race Theory (CasteCRIT): Caste in the U.S.
May 1, 2025 | 12:00 PM
206 Ingraham Hall
Presentation Description
Based on centuries-old ideologies of supremacy, caste is the core, structural organizing principle for Indians and Indian Americans, emphasizing graded hierarchical distinction, exclusion, and oppression. Though originating in India, U.S. imperialism, racism, and subsequent immigration policies have provided a fertile context for caste oppression to be imported and legitimized within one of the largest and most successful immigrant communities. Caste in the U.S. operates at the intersection of race, immigration, gender, class, religion, and politics, and has a profound impact on the lived experiences of caste-oppressed people. To conceptualize caste in the U.S., Dr. Nikalje theorizes Caste Critical Race Theory (CasteCRIT), an anti-casteist, anti-colonial, and anti-racist theoretical framework. CasteCRIT builds on Critical Race Theory as its necessary foundation and theorizes from the knowledge and experiences of Dalit people. This presentation will illustrate the tenets of the theory and discuss the implications for psychological research, practice, education, and advocacy.
About the Speaker
Dr. Ankita Nikalje is an Assistant Professor of Counseling Psychology at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Her scholarship is transdisciplinary; she draws from Ethnic Studies and Sociology and integrates these fields with her training as a Counseling Psychologist. She focuses on the impact of ideological, institutional, interpersonal, and internalized casteist, colonial, and racist oppression on the lived experiences and mental health of South Asians in the diaspora.