FranciscaFortney at 01:57, 12 March 2026

2026-03-12T01:57:45Z

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{{Short description|Philosophy or ideology of B. R. Ambedkar}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2024}}
[[File:Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar.jpg|right|thumb|B. R. Ambedkar (1891–1956)]]
'''Ambedkarism''' is called as the teaching, ideology or philosophy of [[B. R. Ambedkar]], an Indian economist, barrister, social reformer, and the first of [[Minister of Law and Justice]] in the [[First Nehru ministry|first cabinet of Jawaharlal Nehru]].

Ambedkar completed his doctoral studies at the University of Columbia under the guidance of his professor [[John Dewey]]. Dewey's philosophy of [[Pragmatism]] heavily influenced Ambedkar's worldview.<ref>{{cite web | last=Anguyo | first=I | title=The Evolution of Pragmatism in India: Ambedkar, Dewey, and the Rhetoric of Reconstruction – review | website=LSE Review of Books - The latest social science books reviewed by academics and experts | date=9 November 2023 | url=https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2023/11/09/the-evolution-of-pragmatism-in-india-ambedkar-dewey-and-the-rhetoric-of-reconstruction-review/ | access-date=3 March 2026}}</ref> Ambedkarism includes special focus on subjects such as fraternity, democracy, communal electorates, conversion out of [[Hinduism]], political power, rule of law, [[Navayana]], among others.

An '''Ambedkarite''' is one who follows the [[philosophy]] of Ambedkar. Icons of Ambedkarite ideology also include [[Periyar]], [[Jyotirao Phule]] and others.<ref name="OUP, India">{{cite book | author=Rukmini Bhaya Nair, Peter Ronald deSouza | title=Keywords for India: A Conceptual Lexicon for the 21st Century | publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing | year=2020 | isbn=978-1-350-03925-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u6XFDwAAQBAJ | pages=201–202}}</ref>

==Social philosophy==
According to B. R. Ambedkar "Society is always composed of Classes." Their foundations could be different. A person in a society is always a member of a class, whether it is economic, intellectual, or social. This is a universal truth, and early [[Hindu culture]] could not have been an exception to this rule, and we know it was not. So, which class was the first to transform into a caste, because class and caste are, in a sense, next-door neighbours, separated only by a chasm. "A caste is a closed social group."<ref>Moon, Vasant (Comp), Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Writing and Speeches, Vol. 1, p. 15, Bombay: The Education Department, Government of Maharashtra, (1979).</ref>

Untouchables were forced to not wear good clothes but for Ambedkar, the suit was a strategy for political resistance, an assertion of power, a means to break the caste barrier in a society that is caste ridden.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Masoodi |first=Ashwaq |date=2017-04-21 |title=The changing fabric of Dalit life |url=https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/avsrwntNuBHG3THdAb5aMP/The-changing-fabric-of-Dalit-life.html |access-date=2022-09-09 |website=mint |language=en}}</ref>

Ambedkar proposed a [[Communal Award|Separate Electorate]] for the untouchables to send their own representatives in assembly but it was opposed by Gandhi and resulted in his defeat after the [[Poona Pact]] but later he advocated for the establishment of Settlement Commission that would provide separate villages for the Scheduled Castes.<ref>{{Cite web |title=RAS {{!}} B R Ambedkar on Caste and Land Relations in India |url=http://ras.org.in/b_r_ambedkar_on_caste_and_land_relations_in_india |access-date=2022-09-09 |website=ras.org.in}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Balakrishnan |first=Uday |date=2020-04-14 |title=Ambedkar and the Poona Pact |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/ambedkar-and-the-poona-pact/article31333684.ece |access-date=2022-09-09 |issn=0971-751X}}</ref>

==See also==

; Organizations
*[[Buddhist Society of India]]
*[[Ambedkar Makkal Iyakkam]]
*[[The Casteless Collective]]
*[[Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi]]
*[[Dalit Film and Cultural Festival]]
*[[Dalit Panthers|Dalit Panthers of India]]
*[[Dalit Shoshit Samaj Sangharsh Samiti]]
*[[Bhim Army]]
*[[Bhim Sena]]
*[[BAMCEF]]
*[[Bahujan Samaj Party|Bahujan Samaj Students' Forum]]
*[[Ambedkar Students' Association]]
*[[Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students' Association]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

===Sources===
* {{cite book |last1=Omvedt |first1=Gail |title=Buddhism in India: Challenging Brahmanism and Caste |date=18 August 2003 |publisher=SAGE Publications |isbn=978-0-7619-9664-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rSF8b5hbyP0C |language=en}}

[[Category:B. R. Ambedkar]]
[[Category:Eponymous political ideologies]]

Ambedkarism - Revision history

FranciscaFortney at 01:57, 12 March 2026