DOT Talks in collaboration with the Department of Political Science brings you an Online Lecture Series titled ‘The Relevance and Significance of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar: Today & Tomorrow’. The event will be graced by internationally recognized academicians, thinkers, and also our students who will be delivering consecutive lectures.
The first lecture in the series is called ‘Thinking about Democracy’ and will be delivered by V. Geetha on 14th April 2021 at 3 PM. 14th April is the Birth Anniversary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
Abstract: This year marks the 130th anniversary of Babasaheb Dr Ambedkar’s birth. Radical democrat, original thinker and people’s leader, Ambedkar espoused a politics committed to creating a fraternal, just and equal society. An inveterate critic of caste and untouchability, he urged forth a social and ethical vision based on clearly thought out ideas of justice and fellowship. In this talk, I address the following questions:
– How might Ambedkar be read in the context of societies that are not caste-bound, and which are based on other social principles?
– Of what use might a critique of caste and untouchability be to those engaged in diverse struggles, to do with social and political freedom?
– How do we make sense of Ambedkar’s rejection of Hinduism and caste, and his conversion to Buddhism?
Speaker Bio: V. Geetha is a feminist historian and translator from Tamil Nadu who writes on caste, gender, labour and education. She writes in English and Tamil, and lives in Chennai. Her published work includes Undoing Impunity: Speech after Sexual VIolence (2016) and Towards a Non-Brahmin Millenim: from Iyothee Thass to Periyar (1998, 2008). She is currently completing a book on Ambedkar’s relationship to socialism.