Mobilizing the Marginalized by Amit Ahuja is an important contribution to the literature on social movements, party and the party system, ethnic politics and public policy. The book fills a vital theoretical gap in the literature on social and electoral mobilization, as the two strands have often been regarded as existing independent of each other and there has been very little conversation between the two. Research on marginalized groups such as the Dalits in India and their social mobilization and political participation also reflects this gap.
The book demonstrates the differentiated impact which the absence or presence of social movements can have on political socialization, political behaviour, and political agency exercised by Dalits in India. The comparison and contrasting of social mobilization of Dalits in States with strong and weak social movements, and its impact on the nature of political mobilization is the methodological tool used by the author to foreground his argument. The book highlights the distinctiveness of Dalit mobilization as it strives to seek inclusion in both the social and political realm.