Transnationalization of Caste: Internationalization of Higher Education and Dalit Experience in Canadian Higher Education

Abstract

Caste, as a hierarchical system of social stratification, transcends national boundaries and shapes South Asian (SA) diasporic experiences in transnational spaces. This paper examines the transnationalization of caste in Canada through SA migration and the internationalization of higher education policies, focusing on how caste hierarchies are reproduced in Canadian higher education institutions (HEIs). These HEIs, functioning as both colonial spaces of knowledge production and neoliberal entities commodifying education, prioritize international fee-paying students while failing to recognize and address caste-based discrimination. Dalit students, already marginalized by economic barriers and limited cultural capital, face further alienation through caste-dominated curricula, pedagogies, and social networks. Dominant-caste students leverage their social capital to access admissions, housing, and employment, reinforcing exclusionary structures. Additionally, the dominance of Western and Brahminical epistemologies within Canadian HEIs marginalizes Dalit students. Despite these challenges, Dalit students across North America have mobilized anti-caste movements, advocating for caste as a protected category within HEIs. Employing authors autoethnographic experiences as a Dalit PhD student and activist in Canadian HEI, alongside critical engagement with existing literature, this paper analyzes the operation of caste in Canadian HEIs and  calls for institutional accountability.