The Radical in Ambedkar

This landmark volume edited and introduced by Anand Teltumbde and Suraj Yengde establishes B.R. Ambedkar as the most powerful advocate of equality and fraternity in modern India. While the vibrant Dalit movement recognizes Ambedkar as an agent for social change the intellectual class has celebrated him as the key architect of the Indian Constitution and the political establishment has sought to limit his concerns to the question of reservations. This remarkable volume seeks to unpack the radical in Ambedkar's legacy by examining his life work from hitherto unexplored perspectives.Although revered by millions today primarily as a Dalit icon Ambedkar was a serious scholar of India's history society and foreign policy. He was also among the first dedicated human rights lawyers as well as a journalist and a statesman. Critically evaluating his thought and work the essays in this book-by Jean Drèze Partha Chatterjee Sukhadeo Thorat Manu Bhagavan Anupama Rao and other internationally renowned names-discuss Ambedkar's theory on minority rights the consequences of the mass conversion of Dalits to Buddhism Dalit oppression in the context of racism and anti-Semitism and the value of his thought for Marxism and feminism among other global concerns. An extraordinary collection of immense breadth and scholarship that challenges the popular understanding of Ambedkar The Radical in Ambedkar is essential reading for all those who wish to imagine a new future. Review 'Ambedkar like Gandhi provides a great subject for global and comparative studies. This volume aims to do just that moving away from any spirit of uncritical adulation and the result is a series of fresh perspectives on a man whose relevance to discussions of social justice and politics increases with every passing day. A timely collection of some truly powerful and incisive essays' -- Dr Dipesh Chakrabarty Lawrence A. Kimpton Distinguished Service Professor University of Chicago'Taken together these papers reposition Ambedkar as a global thinker addressing some of the most intricate problems that our world still wrestles with. Meticulous investigative essays infectious concerns and combative advocacies admirably blend together in this volume suggesting several pathways of research and political action. The scholar-collective that the volume has brought together could not have been better in assessing Ambedkar's distinctive contribution in a comparative perspective particularly in relation to the struggles of the Dalits in India the African Americans and the blacks in Africa' -- Professor Valerian Rodrigues Ambedkar Chair Ambedkar University Delhi About the Author Anand Teltumbde is a leading public intellectual and civil rights activist. He is currently general secretary of the Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights and is associated with the All India Forum for Rights to Education as a member of its presidium. Teltumbde is a regular contributor toEconomic and Political Weekly where he writes a monthly column titled 'Margin Speak'. He regularly contributes to progressive journals likeMainstream Frontier Seminar and most leading English and Marathi newspapers. Among his significant books areThe Republic of Caste (2018)Dalits Past Present and Future (2016)Mahad The Making of the First Dalit Revolt (2016)ThePersistence of Caste (2010)Khairlanji A Strange and Bitter Crop (2008)Anti-Imperialism and Annihilation of Castes(2005) andHindutva and Dalits Perspectives for Understanding Communal Praxis (ed. 2005). An engineer with management qualifications from India's top institutes Teltumbde has been the CEO of a holding company. He currently teaches in a business school of IIT Kharagpur.Suraj Yengde is a Shorenstein Center inaugural post-doctoral fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School. He has worked with leading international organizations in Geneva London and New York