PESTICIDES, POLLUTION, AND PREJUDICE: AN INTERSECTIONAL ANALYSIS OF DALIT FARMERS' MARGINALIZATION IN THE ENDOSULFAN TRAGEDY

Abstract

Dalit farmers in Kerala’s Kasaragod district have long borne the brunt of hazardous agricultural regimes, amplified by inadequate healthcare and skewed resource distribution that favor upper caste landowners. Over two decades, the Endosulfan tragedy—marked by repeated epidemics stemming from unchecked pesticide use—devastated these marginalized communities most acutely. This paper probes how environmental harm is far from caste neutral, instead reinforcing entrenched socio economic hierarchies and systemic neglect. Drawing on Satish Deshpande’s The Problem of Caste, it conducts a textual analysis to reveal caste as an unseen force shaping exposure to toxic hazards, access to relief, and state accountability. It argues that Dalit farmers’ struggles cannot be divorced from intersecting axes of class and caste oppression, which curtail their capacity to demand justice. By situating the Endosulfan calamity within broader caste dynamics, the study calls for environmental policies grounded in intersectionality—policies that elevate the voices and needs of India’s most vulnerable agrarian workers.