This special issue of Critical Ethnic Studies is devoted to the transnational exploration of caste domination and anti-caste social movements and theories, with emphasis on the interrelation of caste and race in the history and geography of empire. Often portrayed by Hindu nationalists as a declining social category particular to South Asia and steeped in ancient religious tradition, the recent growth in critical scholarship on caste in both South Asian studies and among critical ethnic studies scholars has asserted the continuing and growing relevance of caste politics in the midst of rising fascisms globally. Contemporary anti-caste politics have become central to South Asian activisms against emerging fascistic notions of nationalism, as well as to US organizations contesting casteism in employment and on campus. In opposition to anti-caste social justice movements, a reactionary discourse of “Hinduphobia” has emerged in US debates, while new inter-caste coalitions have helped Hindu nationalist parties make appeals to oppressed caste groups in India. As scholarship on caste opens up new avenues for critical ethnic studies, it also poses new questions about the politics of knowledge, as caste difference extends into the labor of the academy and social movements. Although scholarly conversations about caste have largely been coded as South Asian/area studies in nature, this issue invites perspectives that extend conversations about caste across critical ethnic studies, including work that engages with Asian American Studies, Indigenous Studies, Black Studies, and related fields.

We invite contributions (7000-9000 word articles) that consider:

• The imbrication of caste and race across geographies and histories

• Relationships between caste discourse and the rise of global fascisms

• Relationships between gender, reproduction, endogamy and caste

• Questions of indigeneity and caste, including work that positions settler colonial studies in relation to Adivasi anti-caste struggles 

• Caste in the contexts of diaspora and indenture, including in the Americas and Africa

• Relationships between caste and post/decolonial studies

• Caste systems among South Asian Muslims

• Religion, conversion, and caste politics

• The travel of caste concepts, including in early 20th century sociology, racial anthropology, and theories of racial capitalism

• The racialization of caste, including comparisons of Black and Dalit identities and politics

• Brahmanism, British colonialism, and the consolidation of caste hierarchies

• The politics of addressing caste discrimination, including consideration of Indian state categories recognizing Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, and Other Backward Castes, as well as alternative forms of identification from anti-caste movements

We also invite queries for special documents, including syllabi, political education documents, interviews, and dispatches. Please send queries to justice@criticalethnicstudies.org by November 3rd, 2025.

Full article submissions of 7,000 to 9,000 words (inclusive of notes) are due February 2, 2026 to justice@criticalethnicstudies.org.