social reformer
B. R. Ambedkar
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
1891–1956
Also known as: Ambedkar, Babasaheb, BR Ambedkar, B.R. Ambedkar, बाबासाहेब आंबेडकर, भीमराव आंबेडकर, डॉ. बाबासाहेब आंबेडकर, भीमराव रामजी आंबेडकर
How B. R. Ambedkar is discussed in this archive
Authored 4 works in the archive.
Subject of 1 profile piece — including B.R. Ambedkar on Justice Ranade, Social Reform and Failure of Indian Liberalism .
Referenced in 13 other works — including शेतकरी संघटक , Fundamental Rights in India , and Caste System, Greatest Curse of India .
In Fifty Years After ... : Justice Jahagirdar invokes Ambedkar's opposition to panchayat rule as a counterpoint to the Gandhian ideal of Gram Swaraj, using him to question whether village self-governance is a viable path for India's marginalised communities.
In शेतकरी संघटक : Ambedkar is invoked as the prior major reinterpreter of Phule whose anti-caste reading Joshi acknowledges but distinguishes from his own anti-exploitation reading — making Ambedkar the foil against which Joshi defends his agrarian-economic appropriation of Phule's legacy.
In Judiciary Vis a Vis Parliament & Executive : Ambedkar is cited as one of the Constituent Assembly framers whose words establish the Indian judiciary's intended independence from party politics.
In Fundamental Rights in India : Ambedkar is cited as the head of the Drafting Committee who embedded rights and remedies in the Constitution, and who identified Article 32 as 'the very heart' of the document — a formulation central to the pamphlet's defence of judicial review against Nath Pai's Bill.
In Federal Financial Relations in India : Ambedkar is named first among the Constituent Assembly drafters Santhanam credits with producing the 'masterpiece' federal-finance scheme of Articles 268–281, including the Finance Commission mechanism under Article 280.
By B. R. Ambedkar (4)
About B. R. Ambedkar (1)
Profile pieces (1)
- B.R. Ambedkar on Justice Ranade, Social Reform and Failure of Indian Liberalism
- "Bereft of any personal connection with Ranade, Ambedkar relied on the Great Man theory as propounded by Carlyle to assess him" — frames Ambedkar's methodology in assessing Ranade's contribution to social reform
- "Ambedkar argued that a reformer challenging established social mores is even more courageous than a political prisoner" — Ambedkar's recognition of social reformers' unique vulnerability without political support
Mentioned in (14)
Primary works (6)
- Quotas and Reservations · 2006
- Fifty Years After ... · 1997
- "He invokes Ambedkar's opposition to panchayat rule as a counterpoint to the Gandhian ideal of Gram Swaraj." — Ambedkar cited in Jahagirdar's argument about the gap between Gandhian rural ideals and Ambedkarite caution
- शेतकरी संघटक · 1992
- "The essay engages extensively with B. R. Ambedkar's later interpretations of Phule, noting that Ambedkar eventually framed Phule's anti-caste work in a different register; Joshi insists Phule was not anti-Hindu but anti-exploiter." — Joshi positions his own reading of Phule against Ambedkar's later anti-caste framing
- "Ambedkar's later reinterpretation of Phule is noted and partly distinguished from Joshi's own reading." — key-points summary marks Ambedkar as the prior interpretive authority Joshi engages and partially diverges from
- Judiciary Vis a Vis Parliament & Executive · 1981
- "the Constituent Assembly's intent — quoting Nehru, Ambedkar and B. N. Rau on the need for judges free from party bias" — Divan's framing of the constitutional design for judicial independence
- Fundamental Rights in India · 1969
- "Dr. Ambedkar heading the Drafting Committee, embedded not just rights but remedies (Article 32)" — establishes the drafting history that made fundamental rights legally enforceable
- "Ambedkar calling Article 32 'the very heart' of the Constitution" — Ambedkar's own framing used to anchor the argument that Parliament cannot amend away the right to judicial remedy
- Federal Financial Relations in India · 1966
- "Santhanam credits the Constituent Assembly drafters — Ambedkar, B. N. Rau, Gopalaswamy Ayyangar and K. M. Munshi — with producing a precise, if cautious, federal scheme" — central praise of the constitutional drafting team; Ambedkar heads the named quartet
Opinion pieces (3)
- Babytai Kamble's Resolute Feminism
- "Kamble herself was inspired by the life of Dr B.R. Ambedkar and the contributions he made to the Dalit community. Taking his beliefs and morals forward, Kamble not only became a torchbearer of Ambedkar's values and motives" — framing Kamble's activism as a continuation of Ambedkar's emancipatory project
- Freedom First's Resistance to Indira Gandhi's Emergency
- "Indira Gandhi and her sycophants' bid to overturn constitutional provisions was a turn away from the vision of Jawaharlal Nehru, Bhimrao Ambedkar, and Sardar Patel" — Ambedkar invoked as a founding constitutional authority against the Emergency's constitutional revisions
- The Radical Humanism of Jyotiba Phule
- "Jyotiba Phule's radical humanism made him distinct from other nationalist leaders and was emulated by both E V Ramaswamy and Bhimrao Ambedkar." — identifies Ambedkar as one of Phule's principal ideological heirs
Excerpts (5)
- Caste System, Greatest Curse of India
- "out of a healthy spirit of camaraderie and social co-operation, but "mechanically" as Dr Ambedkar has well put it" — Kulkarni borrows Ambedkar's exact word to characterise the hollow cross-caste contact of public life
- "The same writer further says in his book "What Gandhi and Congress have done for the untouchables" that the caste system is not only "non-social but also anti-social"" — Ambedkar's verdict supplies the essay's strongest single indictment of caste
- Fighting for Freedom : The Tumultuous Legacy of Raghunath Karve
- "Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar took up his case and represented him in court. Dr. Ambedkar raised pertinent questions about censorship, freedom of speech and expression, and individual freedom." — Ambedkar's courtroom intervention frames him as a defender of Karve's individual-liberty mission
- Fundamental Rights: Our Protection Against Tyranny
- "The Hon'ble Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, while explaining that the procedure for amending the Constitution was simple, expounded on the necessity of curbing the powers of Parliament." — Ambedkar's constituent-assembly speech is deployed as the founders' own warrant against Parliament's self-aggrandisement
- Sharad Joshi on Liberalism in India
- "Ambedkar, Periyar, Ramaswami Naicker and others organised certain castes and communities from the backward classes." — Joshi surveys social-reform movements that channelled oppressed communities' aspirations
- The Light of the Constitution
- "Dr B. R. Ambedkar said: "The Declaration of the Rights of Man…has become part and parcel of our mental make-up…These principles have become the silent, immaculate premise of our outlook."" — Ambedkar's words invoked to show the founding generation's commitment to fundamental rights that the 1976 amendments threaten