17 Facts About Gail Omvedt

Gail Omvedt was an American-born Indian sociologist and human rights activist.

Gail Omvedt was a prolific writer and published numerous books on the anti-caste movement, Dalit politics, and women's struggles in India.

Gail Omvedt's academic writing includes numerous books and articles on class, caste and gender issues.

Gail Omvedt was a senior fellow at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library and research director of the Krantivir Babuji Patankar Sanstha.

Gail Omvedt was born in Minneapolis and studied at Carleton College and at UC Berkeley where she earned her PhD in sociology in 1973.

Gail Omvedt was a consultant for UN agencies and NGOs, served as a Dr Ambedkar Chair Professor at NISWASS in Orissa, a professor of sociology at the University of Pune, as an Asian guest professor at the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, Copenhagen and as a senior fellow at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi.

Gail Omvedt was a visiting professor and coordinator at the School of Social Justice, University of Pune, and a fellow at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla.

Gail Omvedt died on 25 August 2021 in Maharashtra at the age of 80.

Gail Omvedt worked with social movements in India, including the Dalit and anti-caste movements, environmental movements, farmers' movements and especially with rural women.

Gail Omvedt was active in Shramik Mukti Dal, Stri Mukti Sangarsh Chalval which works on issues of abandoned women in Sangli and Satara districts of southern Maharashtra, and the Shetkari Mahila Aghadi, which works on issues of women's land rights and political power.

Gail Omvedt was an Ambedkarite scholar who contributed immensely to the anti-caste movement.

Gail Omvedt was critical of the religious scriptures of Hinduism for what she argued is their promotion of a caste-based society.

Gail Omvedt posits that Hindutva groups foster an ethnic definition of Hinduism based on geography, ancestry and heritage to create solidarity amongst various castes, despite the prevalence of caste-based discrimination.

Gail Omvedt endorsed the stand taken by Dalit activists at the 2001 World Conference Against Racism that caste discrimination is similar to racism in regarding discriminated groups as "biologically inferior and socially dangerous".

Gail Omvedt called the United States a "racist country" and has advocated for affirmative action; however, she compared American positive-discrimination policies favorably to those of India, stating:.

Gail Omvedt was criticized for a perceived "anti-statist" bias in her writing as well as "neo-liberal" economic sympathies.

Gail Omvedt's academic writing includes numerous books and articles on class, caste and gender issues, most notably:.