Cawood, Sally and Farzana, Malisha and Naeem, KM Faisal (2025) Nongra Kaj / ‘dirty work’ : caste, colonialism and entrapment in Bangladesh. Contemporary South Asia. pp. 1-22. ISSN 0958-4935
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
In this article, we use and develop the notion of ‘entrapment’ to capture the complex and often contradictory ways in which identity (ascribed and self-determined), occupation and place of residence – inextricably linked to caste, class and coloniality – hinders socio-economic and spatial mobility, but also offers fertile ground for solidarity and resistance for those involved in nongra kaj (dirty work) in Bangladesh. Drawing on secondary literature, interviews and focus group discussions, we highlight: (1) the legacies of forced or coerced migration of labourers from across India to Bengal for sanitary work during British rule, (2) how manual scavenging has changed in line with, and contrary to infrastructural and administrative reform, and (3) how workers – especially a new generation of educated youth – seek to navigate discrimination and access livelihoods within and beyond sanitation work. We demonstrate how entrapment is both a historically rooted and active, ongoing process that shapes the lives of those engaged in or associated with nongra kaj. In doing so, we address a dearth of literature on caste, coloniality and sanitation labour in Bangladesh, and offer a broader conceptual, methodological and empirical agenda to highlight the histories and contemporary realities of those ‘trapped’ in unseen occupations across South Asia today.