The Persistence of Caste: Part I—The Impossible Simultaneity of Religion and Social Revolution in Ambedkar’s Last Essay: Buddha or Karl Marx

Abstract

This study will explore the problem of the persistence of caste in South Asia, particularly in India but not excluding the global diaspora of peoples of South Asian descent. Within Ambedkar’s massive, far-reaching corpus of writings we will explore his last great work Buddha or Karl Marx, written shortly before his death in 1956 but published posthumously. By examining this inexplicable constancy of caste, we will argue why it is a moral imperative to continue the legacy of Ambedkar by offering new philosophical reasons for its ultimate destruction.