The caste system is a graded system of creating a hierarchy among human beings. The prevalence of caste-based discrimination in South Asia remains a cruel fact in spite of the illegality of the practice of untouchability. Moreover, gender and caste are inextricably connected, and the Dalit woman is at the bottom of this system.

What is the Just Futures Fellowship (JFF)?

Founded by Samata Foundation in 2021, JFF is an 18-month initiative focused on creatively engaging Dalit women in Madhesh and exploring new narratives on caste questions through the arts and humanities, including oral history repositories like, memoirs, autobiographies, poetry, short films, documentaries, art works, and traditional art objects.  Through this powerful initiative, 16 Dalit women (including sexual and gender minorities who identify as women) from Province 2 between the ages of 20 and 40 will be awarded the Just Futures Fellowship (JFF). The fellows will collaborate with eight to ten globally recognized Social Justice Resource Persons to rethink and increase their knowledge on caste-based discrimination and to enhance their skills and networks for the creation of just futures.  The fellows will also study and engage with the effects of the recent COVID-19 pandemic on the caste system. Through mutual and collaborative dialogue with the resource group on the experiences of Dalit women fighting the caste system, we hope to develop new understandings of these interconnected issues.

Federal and Sub-national level

July 1, 2021 – October 31, 2021

Ford Foundation

1. Just Futures Fellowship (JFF)

Founded by Samata Foundation in 2021, JFF is an 18-month initiative focused on creatively engaging Dalit women in Madhesh and exploring new narratives on caste questions through the arts and humanities, including oral history repositories like, memoirs, autobiographies, poetry, short films, documentaries, art works, and traditional art objects.  Through this powerful initiative, 16 Dalit women (including sexual and gender minorities who identify as women) from Province 2 between the ages of 20 and 40 will be awarded the Just Futures Fellowship (JFF). The fellows will collaborate with eight to ten globally recognized Social Justice Resource Persons to rethink and increase their knowledge on caste-based discrimination and to enhance their skills and networks for the creation of just futures.  The fellows will also study and engage with the effects of the recent COVID-19 pandemic on the caste system. Through mutual and collaborative dialogue with the resource group on the experiences of Dalit women fighting the caste system, we hope to develop new understandings of these interconnected issues.