Lived Experiences of the Indian Stigmatized Group in Reference to Socio-Political Empowerment: A Phenomenological Approach

The authors present the lived experiences of the stigmatized castes in the context of the opportunities made available by the government of India for their SocioPolitical Empowerment. The study aimed to gain an understanding about the respondents unique experiences of caste-based stigmatization at their workplace, their overall experience of empowerment at work and the other spheres of their lives, and to capture their perceived importance of, and the success of reservation policy as well as several other initiatives taken by the Government of India for empowering the marginalized castes. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 male Schedule Caste/Schedule Tribe respondents working at respectable positions in the government organizations situated in the National Capital Region of Delhi. The phenomenological approach (Langdridge, 2007) was used to unearth the essence of the participants experiences of stigma driven treatments. The overall perceptions and experiences of the respondents included experiencing direct and indirect forms of caste-related discrimination at workplace; experiencing economic, social and psychological empowerment but not at the workplace; favouring the policy of reservation for Schedule Caste/Schedule Tribe in government jobs; and believing in the improper implementation of policies in India. The research findings indicate the incomplete success of the governmental policies for the holistic empowerment of the Indian marginalized castes. Keywords: Stigma, Empowerment, Marginalised Caste, Stereotypes, Discrimination, Phenomenology