B. R. Ambedkar, John Dewey, and the Meaning of Democracy
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7427788 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Arun P Mukherjee (0000-0001-5737-823X, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2009 |
| Volume | 40 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 345-370 |
| Publication date | 2009-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | New Literary History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0028-6087 • E-ISSN: 1080-661X |
| Publisher | Project MUSE (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1353/nlh.0.0083 |
| OpenAlex | W2019772801 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 26 |
| References cited | 4 |
This paper looks at the influence of American pragmatist philosopher, John Dewey, on Indian leader and intellectual, B. R. Ambedkar and Ambedkar’s refashioning of Deweyan thought into a tool for his own investigations of Indian society. Ambedkar studied at Columbia University from 1913 to 1916, and Dewey was his favorite teacher there. Ambedkar’s writings quote widely from Dewey, especially his book Democracy and Education . Ambedkar was deeply influenced by Deweyan idea of democracy as “associated life” which went beyond electing a government at regular intervals. Indeed, for both Ambedkar and Dewey, this idea encapsulated their understanding of humans as both products of their social environment and as agents who continuously changed their social environment through communication and education. Ambedkar used these Deweyan ideas about the human and social life to critique the caste-based Hindu society, to fight for the rights of untouchables, and to envision an Indian democracy based on the ideals of equality, liberty and fraternity
Caste · Fraternity · Pragmatism · Indian and Buddhist Studies · Indian History and Philosophy · Pragmatism in Philosophy and Education
The Humble Cosmopolitan
Excessively Harsh Critique and Democratic Rhetoric
Ambedkar as a critical Theorist
Understanding Dr B. R. Ambedkar’s Idea of Social Democracy and Higher Education through Siddharth College, Bombay
Shattering Our Idols
“Educate, Agitate, Organize”
Re-imagining curriculum in India
B.R. Ambedkar
A Philosophical Critique of Manu’s Code
Are We More Social or Individual by the Digital Ethnographic Tool
Justice for the Excluded and Education for Democracy in B. R. Ambedkar and A. Gramsci
Ambedkar's Political Philosophy
The “untouchable” who touched millions
The Brahmanisation of Indian Sociology or the Birth of the Racial Theories of Untouchability
Ambedkar's Śūnyatā and the Impermanence of the Theologico-Political
Reappraising B. R. Ambedkar’s Thoughts of Inclusive Indian Nation
Situating Democracy in Ambedkar’s Moral Discourse
Resonance of Ambedkar’s Vision of Social Democracy in Bama’s Karukku
A Critical Appraisal of Aims-Based Curriculum from a Global South Perspective
BR Ambedkar and the history of constitutionalizing India
Interwar India through Bhimrao Ambedkar’s Eyes
Ambedkar on the Haughty Face of Dignity
B. R. Ambedkar on Caste, Democracy, and State Action
Gandhiji, I Have no Homeland
The Pedagogical Account of Parliamentarism at India's Founding
Pragmatism, Persuasion, and Force in Bhimrao Ambedkar's Reconstruction of Buddhism
| Unique citing works | 26 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2.6 |
| Citation span | 2016 - 2025 (10) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 26 |