Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.66 AVERAGE
4.66 AVERAGE
"Indeed, to expect a Brahmin to be a revolutionary in matters of social reform is as idle as to expect the British Parliament, as was said by Leslie Stephen, to pass an Act requiring all blue-eyed babies to be murdered."
If you want to enter into a terrain in which you allow yourself to be stripped of your caste privileges, this is your space. <3
If you want to enter into a terrain in which you allow yourself to be stripped of your caste privileges, this is your space. <3
Dr. Ambedkar lays out the ways in which the caste to which he was assigned at birth has been cruelly subjugated. He points to elements of Hinduism that justify and reinforce the caste system. He extends his argument that Hinduism is unique among religions for prescribing a rigid system of social striation. He holds that religion should be a repository of absolute truths, not the arbitrary will of the ruling class. He also points out that over time the number of texts feeding into Hinduism have grown ever larger, and asserts that there should be one source of doctrine instead of many.
On the cruelty of caste there can be no doubt. I was constantly reminded of Isabel Wilkerson's book, Caste, which described the cruel application of caste within American society. Dr. Ambedkar claims the Abrahamic religions are less reinforcing of caste, but I am not so sure this is true. Christianity has been the refrain of white supremacists as much as it has been the battering ram of genocidal colonialism. Although the rituals of caste differ, there are in America at least equally cruel expressions of the subjugation of people considered to belong to one caste by people who believe they belong to another, including bans in intermarriage, ritualized extrajudicial beatings and killings, slavery in fields and prisons, what amounts to indentured servitude for the castes near the bottom with power inequity growing as we look further down the caste ladder, differences in access to opportunity, separation of housing, underfunding of education, over-representation in prison, lack of political power, and the inheritance by birth of social class. This is reinforced by religion, business, and state, in the form of laws, taboos, vigilantism, and norms.
To be sure, the social construct of the superiority of some members of society and consequent inferiority of others is reinforced by ideology and mythology. People express these notions of superiority on other humans, and also on the more-than-human world. The Abrahamic religions insist that humans as a whole are born superior to all other living creatures with dominion over all of them. Aristotle believed in a "ladder of nature", which assumes humans are in-borne with some quality that makes them superior to all else on Earth and closer to the divine. This sounds a lot like the Hindu belief in the Brahmin caste.
Dr. Ambedkar is right also that the subjugation of many by a few has adverse effects on the ruling classes, such as in the suppression of economy by the refusal to accept on equal terms the valuable contributions that those held as inferior might offer freely if they were allowed to exercise full autonomy in their participation in society and give full license to their creative powers. We see this within human society when we wonder what could be accomplished if access to great education, political power and resources weren't confined to the ruling elite but were equally accessible to all. We see this in the more-than-human world when we consider the "ecosystem services" offered through biodiversity while we witness the human-led mass extinction of life on Earth.
My knowledge of Hinduism is limited. I have read the Mahabarata, which I enjoyed greatly as a story. I acknowledge it does reinforce class lines in that it elevates the Brahmins and takes for granted the right of Kshatriyas (the political ruling class) to conscript everybody else into wars of territorial acquisition. I have also started to read the Rig Veda, but I haven't gotten very far. My only take-away so far is everybody should drink soma. It seems almost like an advertisement for a drink, and I suspect soma may have been important politically and economically as a drink produced for the subjects of an empire and made from crops farmed by a subjugated or colonized population. Other examples of such drinks include wine for the Romans or Coca Cola for the Americans.
Certainly, Hinduism is not alone in religions that are built up over time with the sedimentary accretion of layers of texts, one upon another over the centuries. To take the Abrahamic religions, for example, we might enumerate a long list of mythologies that led up to and then built on these religions, including the Atra Hasis, the Enuma Elish, the Talmud, the Torah, the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Zabur Psalms, the Quran, the Deutero-Canonical books, the works of St. Augustine, Dante's Comedia, Milton's Paradise Lost, and many more.
I would contend that none of these texts contain absolute truths. Rather, they reinforce a culture and are relevant to a specific people living in a specific time on a specific land.
I have one chief criticism of this book. The author employs the pejorative description of certain humans as savages. While this word is etymologically associated with wildness or wilderness, and since all humans are a part of nature, there should be no objection to saying that all humans and indeed all things from rocks to priests are savages, this is not the sense in which it is employed. Rather, the word connotes an ideology of the superiority of sedentary societies reliant on growing annual crops over migratory societies with a broader diet and greater reliance on ecosystem services, which the society also seeks to support. Furthermore, the history of religious and political colonization over the past 500 years has liberally employed such terms as a method of drawing arbitrary distinctions between people for the purpose of subjugating them.
On the cruelty of caste there can be no doubt. I was constantly reminded of Isabel Wilkerson's book, Caste, which described the cruel application of caste within American society. Dr. Ambedkar claims the Abrahamic religions are less reinforcing of caste, but I am not so sure this is true. Christianity has been the refrain of white supremacists as much as it has been the battering ram of genocidal colonialism. Although the rituals of caste differ, there are in America at least equally cruel expressions of the subjugation of people considered to belong to one caste by people who believe they belong to another, including bans in intermarriage, ritualized extrajudicial beatings and killings, slavery in fields and prisons, what amounts to indentured servitude for the castes near the bottom with power inequity growing as we look further down the caste ladder, differences in access to opportunity, separation of housing, underfunding of education, over-representation in prison, lack of political power, and the inheritance by birth of social class. This is reinforced by religion, business, and state, in the form of laws, taboos, vigilantism, and norms.
To be sure, the social construct of the superiority of some members of society and consequent inferiority of others is reinforced by ideology and mythology. People express these notions of superiority on other humans, and also on the more-than-human world. The Abrahamic religions insist that humans as a whole are born superior to all other living creatures with dominion over all of them. Aristotle believed in a "ladder of nature", which assumes humans are in-borne with some quality that makes them superior to all else on Earth and closer to the divine. This sounds a lot like the Hindu belief in the Brahmin caste.
Dr. Ambedkar is right also that the subjugation of many by a few has adverse effects on the ruling classes, such as in the suppression of economy by the refusal to accept on equal terms the valuable contributions that those held as inferior might offer freely if they were allowed to exercise full autonomy in their participation in society and give full license to their creative powers. We see this within human society when we wonder what could be accomplished if access to great education, political power and resources weren't confined to the ruling elite but were equally accessible to all. We see this in the more-than-human world when we consider the "ecosystem services" offered through biodiversity while we witness the human-led mass extinction of life on Earth.
My knowledge of Hinduism is limited. I have read the Mahabarata, which I enjoyed greatly as a story. I acknowledge it does reinforce class lines in that it elevates the Brahmins and takes for granted the right of Kshatriyas (the political ruling class) to conscript everybody else into wars of territorial acquisition. I have also started to read the Rig Veda, but I haven't gotten very far. My only take-away so far is everybody should drink soma. It seems almost like an advertisement for a drink, and I suspect soma may have been important politically and economically as a drink produced for the subjects of an empire and made from crops farmed by a subjugated or colonized population. Other examples of such drinks include wine for the Romans or Coca Cola for the Americans.
Certainly, Hinduism is not alone in religions that are built up over time with the sedimentary accretion of layers of texts, one upon another over the centuries. To take the Abrahamic religions, for example, we might enumerate a long list of mythologies that led up to and then built on these religions, including the Atra Hasis, the Enuma Elish, the Talmud, the Torah, the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Zabur Psalms, the Quran, the Deutero-Canonical books, the works of St. Augustine, Dante's Comedia, Milton's Paradise Lost, and many more.
I would contend that none of these texts contain absolute truths. Rather, they reinforce a culture and are relevant to a specific people living in a specific time on a specific land.
I have one chief criticism of this book. The author employs the pejorative description of certain humans as savages. While this word is etymologically associated with wildness or wilderness, and since all humans are a part of nature, there should be no objection to saying that all humans and indeed all things from rocks to priests are savages, this is not the sense in which it is employed. Rather, the word connotes an ideology of the superiority of sedentary societies reliant on growing annual crops over migratory societies with a broader diet and greater reliance on ecosystem services, which the society also seeks to support. Furthermore, the history of religious and political colonization over the past 500 years has liberally employed such terms as a method of drawing arbitrary distinctions between people for the purpose of subjugating them.
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
The single book you need to understand the history of caste, and why it's annihilation is the primary step towards achieving true equality.
The single most important book I have read in my life. Before reading this book what I understood about Ambedkar was as a great mind who worked throughout his life for Dalits and as the guy who wrote the constitution of India. Even when I saw the movie on his life and understood a little bit about his struggles it still didn't paint a picture of this person who understood India and it's social issues like no one else.
The speech that was never made turning into this book is just a glimpse into the war he made against everything wrong with this country. If not for the way he waged his war, I can't even imagine where we would've been now. The deconstruction of "sanatan dharma" in the book is still as relevant as back then. The hypocrisy of those in power and the prejudice of the masses is still rampant and the deification of hypocrites is more than ever.
The esaay The Doctor and the Saint by Arundhathi Roy in this annotated edition also adds the current situation and juxtaposition showing we are still closer to what was happening back then rather than the practical world Ambedkar envisioned. That is the best thing about it, even when seemingly radical propositions are made by him, he only proposes it because he has studied it and have seen the practicality of it. But as Roy notes Ambedkar wasn't a charming politician as some others so that he can introduce ways that would antagonize the privileged.
The speech that was never made turning into this book is just a glimpse into the war he made against everything wrong with this country. If not for the way he waged his war, I can't even imagine where we would've been now. The deconstruction of "sanatan dharma" in the book is still as relevant as back then. The hypocrisy of those in power and the prejudice of the masses is still rampant and the deification of hypocrites is more than ever.
The esaay The Doctor and the Saint by Arundhathi Roy in this annotated edition also adds the current situation and juxtaposition showing we are still closer to what was happening back then rather than the practical world Ambedkar envisioned. That is the best thing about it, even when seemingly radical propositions are made by him, he only proposes it because he has studied it and have seen the practicality of it. But as Roy notes Ambedkar wasn't a charming politician as some others so that he can introduce ways that would antagonize the privileged.
This is the first time I am reading Dr. Ambedkar in any form. Was always in awe of the Man and this book has only increased my awe for him.
The clarity of thoughts and explanation of why he is making those points just amazes me. The arguments made are still valid to-date. Dr takes in all the arguments from the opposition and breaks them one by one with providing brilliant points citing vedas, shastras and even present day occurences. In a way it's good this speech was not delivered. Had it been, we wouldn't have got this as a book. One of the most exciting parts is Dr's reply to Mahatma, which comes at the end and finishes the book on a high.
I would suggest this book to anyone who thinks caste is a demon to be destroyed. This book will help you solidify your talking points and also amuse you in every page.
I would also suggest this book to anyone who thinks otherwise. This book will make you rethink your assumptions.
The clarity of thoughts and explanation of why he is making those points just amazes me. The arguments made are still valid to-date. Dr takes in all the arguments from the opposition and breaks them one by one with providing brilliant points citing vedas, shastras and even present day occurences. In a way it's good this speech was not delivered. Had it been, we wouldn't have got this as a book. One of the most exciting parts is Dr's reply to Mahatma, which comes at the end and finishes the book on a high.
I would suggest this book to anyone who thinks caste is a demon to be destroyed. This book will help you solidify your talking points and also amuse you in every page.
I would also suggest this book to anyone who thinks otherwise. This book will make you rethink your assumptions.
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
A classic work, in the same category as The Communist Manifesto.
Annihilation of Caste is a product of its time, that is the 1930s. Before the trauma of decolonization/partition. Before significant social progress in other parts of the world. And it was written to be a (very long) speech. As a result of its vintage and its format (i.e. not a scholarly article) a certain rhetorical weakness is to be expected.
I agree with Ambedkar on a lot the points he makes in his criticism of the caste system but I also find myself disagreeing with--or finding weak or irrelevant--many of his arguments. (Don't misinterpret, I wholeheartedly agree that caste=terrible.) I also am not the intended audience so I was unable to evaluate all references to Hindu scripture. There were a lot--it was like wandering about on an unknown planet at times.
I did think Ambedkar's reasoning was much better than Gandhi's, though, for what it's worth. But in this book, Ambedkar gets the last word, so.
Would be useful to read a more modern scholar's take on this topic
Annihilation of Caste is a product of its time, that is the 1930s. Before the trauma of decolonization/partition. Before significant social progress in other parts of the world. And it was written to be a (very long) speech. As a result of its vintage and its format (i.e. not a scholarly article) a certain rhetorical weakness is to be expected.
I agree with Ambedkar on a lot the points he makes in his criticism of the caste system but I also find myself disagreeing with--or finding weak or irrelevant--many of his arguments. (Don't misinterpret, I wholeheartedly agree that caste=terrible.) I also am not the intended audience so I was unable to evaluate all references to Hindu scripture. There were a lot--it was like wandering about on an unknown planet at times.
I did think Ambedkar's reasoning was much better than Gandhi's, though, for what it's worth. But in this book, Ambedkar gets the last word, so.
Would be useful to read a more modern scholar's take on this topic
informative
reflective
medium-paced