Dalit is a form of self-created identity which rejects the social identity given to them by society in form of untouchables, Achhoots, outcasts etc. Phases of Dalit assertion have been undergone different ideological perspectives. These assertion movements can be clubbed in following ideological categories:

• Social reform movement- Anti brahmanist - Sri Narayana Dharma Paripalana Movement: This movement was based on the approach of reinterpreting Hindu religion in search of self-determination. Ezhava community of Kerala belonged to untouchable’s category. They were considered to be unapproachable by the clean castes.
• Rejection of Hinduism: This movement advocated that emancipation of depressed castes is not possible within the framework of Varna system which is hierarchical and integrated to Hinduism. Thus the Mahar Movement rejected Hinduism completely and embraced Buddhism which was egalitarian and indigenous too.
• Ideology of class conflict - Neo movements - Under the leadership of Namdeo Dhasal, Raja Dhale and J.V Pawar, the Dalit Panther movement emerged among the Mahars of Bombay and Pune in 1972.
• Dalit Panther Movement is transformative movement. It cashed in on the frustration that the urban youth were experiencing when faced with diverse forms of discrimination against the untouchables and the oppressed.
• Dalit panthers adopted the ideology of class conflict and anti-caste Hindu feeling. The new identity that emerged based on these two principles enabled the young urban Mahars to attack the upper caste Hindu capitalists.
• Power determinism: This ideology believes that power determines economic and social status of any community. Thus dalit intellectuals and leaders created political parties exclusively concerned with dalit interest. They institutionalized caste conflict into competition between political parties. It increased their bargaining power and capacity of decision making. Ex: BSP.
• Dalit Capitalism: Under the leadership of Chandrabhan Prasad, Milind Kamble and in association with DICCY (Dalit version of FICCY), dalit entrepreneurs tried to break the image of Dalit from job seeker to job giver community.

Thus they can be considered as contributors in national development which will enhance their status in society. They drew inspiration from Black capitalism in USA and success of Dalit entrepreneurs outside India.

The social relations in which Dalits are caught calls upon them to struggle not merely against external dominance, be it capital, caste or power, but also against denial of their very humanity. The latter forms of struggle are pitted against subtler forms of human degradation and enslavement of one’s very self. The new turn in Dalit politics is precisely calling for a widening of the terrain of struggle rather than merely restricting it to political power or religious conversion. Given this task, there are new instrumentalities in place in Dalit struggles: the social media does not become merely a site to network, but also to inform, to criticise, to assess as well as redefine concerns. In fact the social media has emerged today as the backbone of the new Dalit awakening as could be seen in the >solidarity movement with Rohith Vemula across the country , in ‘Azadi Koon’ (March for Freedom) from Ahmedabad to Una in Gujarat, or the ‘Udupi Chalo’ walk that brought thousands of Dalits from different parts of Karnataka to the temple town, Udupi.

Gail Omvedt observes that the post-Ambedkar Dalit movement was ironically only that in the end- a movement of Dalits, challenging some of the deepest aspects of oppression and exploitation but failing to show the way to transformation. Dalit Assertion have mobilised the State resources and Society to reverse the earlier notion of Purity and Pollution.