The Political Philosophy of B. R. Ambedkar: Caste, Democracy, and the Reconstruction of the Indian State.

This article explores B. R. Ambedkar’s political philosophy through his critique of caste, democracy, and the constitutional state. It contends that his political thought can be understood in terms of two related concerns: the diagnosis of caste as a structure of graded inequality and the reconstruction of political institutions that can respond to that inequality. The first section examines Ambedkar’s critique of caste, his challenge to political theories that abstract away from existing social hierarchies, and his distinction between political and social democracy. The second section analysis his idea of the state, constitutional morality, liberty, equality and fraternity, religious self-determination, minority safeguards and constitutional practice. The paper argues that these themes are related by a concern with the conditions under which formally equal citizens can participate in democratic life as social equals. So Ambedkar's political philosophy connects constitutional democracy to the ongoing transformations of the social relations that construct citizenship.