Gail Omvedt

Born In 1891 Into An ‘Untouchable’ Family, Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar Was Witness To All The Decisive Phases Of India'S Freedom Movement. While The Well-Known Elite Nationalists Like Gandhi And Nehru Led The Struggle For Political Freedom From British Colonial Rule, Ambedkar Fought A Correlated But Different Struggle, One For The Liberation Of The Most Oppressed Sections Of Indian Society. Ambedkar'S Nationalism Focussed On The Building Of A Nation, On The Creation Of Social Equality And Cultural Integration In A Society Held Enslaved For Centuries By The Unique Tyrannies Of Caste And Varna Ideologies. His Would Be An Enlightened India Based On The Values Of Liberty, Equality And Fraternity. In This Concise Biography, Gail Omvedt, A Long-Time Researcher Of Dalit Politics And Culture, Presents With Empathy Ambedkar'S Struggle To Become Educated, Overcome The Stigma Of Untouchability And Pursue His Higher Studies Abroad. She Portrays How He Gradually Rose To Become A Lawyer Of International Repute, A Founder Of A New Order Of Buddhism And A Framer Of India'S Constitution. Ambedkar: Towards An Enlightened India Puts The Man And His Times In Context. Exploring Ambedkar'S Various Aspects—As Scholar, Lawyer, Economist, Religious Leader And Intellectual—It Explains To A New Generation Of Readers How He Became A National And Dalit Leader And An Icon Of The Dispossessed.

Towards an Enlightened India

Ambedkar

The Anti-caste Movement and the Construction of an Indian Identity

Dalit Visions

Vasant Moon

Eleanor Zelliot

There is much in Vasant Moon's story of his vasti, his childhood neighborhood in India, that would probably be true of any ghetto anywhere in the world. There is hunger and deprivation, to be sure, but also a sense of community, an easy acceptance of petty crime and violence, the saving grace of sports and organized activities led by caring adults, the off-again on-again aid from relatives, the inexplicable cruelty and unexpected generosity, and escape through education. But there is much here that is peculiarly and vividly Indian as well. Primary among these is the factor of caste, a hierarchical system unrelated to race but based on ancient principles of hereditary pollution and purity, with Brahmans the purest and Untouchables the most polluted. Second is the presence of a hero so important he is described as a "wave," and surely no despised group has ever had a leader as meaningful as Dr. B. R. (Babasaheb) Ambedkar was and remains for India's awakened and ambitious Dalits. Third is nature, with Moon's compelling descriptions of Nagpur's heat and the vivid joy brought by the monsoon. Indeed, every tree, every fruit, every nook and cranny of the world in and around the vasti plays an important part in his story. Dalit literature, poetry, plays, and autobiographies have been one of the most important developments in the culture of India in the past thirty years, yet little has been translated for a Western audience. Vasant Moon's Growing Up Untouchable, the first Dalit autobiography to be published in English, is a moving and eloquent testament to a uniquely Indian life as well as to the universal human spirit.

A Dalit Autobiography

Growing up Untouchable in India

This important book traces the history of the Dalit movement from its beginning in the 19th century to the death of its most famous leader, B.R. Ambedkar, in 1956. Focusing on three states—Andhra,Maharashtra and Karnataka—Dr Omvedt analyses the ideology and organization of the movement and its interaction both with the freedom struggle(particularly with Gandhi and Gandhism) and the `class` struggles of the workers and peasants (and their dominant ideology-Marxism). She also provides a historical account of the origin and development of the caste system.

Dr Ambedkar and the Dalit Movement in Colonial India

Dalits and the Democratic Revolution

Gail

If Gandhi Was Bapu, The Father Of A Society In Which He Tried To Inject Equality While Maintaining The Hindu Framework, Ambedkar Was Baba To His People And The Great Liberator From That Framework. Born In 1891 Into An Untouchable Family, Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar Was Witness To All The Decisive Phases Of India'S Freedom Movement. While The Well-Known Elite Nationalists Like Gandhi And Nehru Led The Struggle For Political Freedom From British Colonial Rule, Ambedkar Fought A Correlated But Different Struggle, One For The Liberation Of The Most Oppressed Sections Of Indian Society. Ambedkar'S Nationalism Focussed On The Building Of A Nation, On The Creation Of Social Equality And Cultural Integration In A Society Held Enslaved For Centuries By The Unique Tyrannies Of Caste And Varna Ideologies. His Would Be An Enlightened India Based On The Values Of Liberty, Equality And Fraternity. In This Concise Biography, Gail Omvedt, A Long-Time Researcher Of Dalit Politics And Culture, Presents With Empathy Ambedkar'S Struggle To Become Educated, Overcome The Stigma Of Untouchability And Pursue His Higher Studies Abroad. She Portrays How He Gradually Rose To Become A Lawyer Of International Repute, A Founder Of A New Order Of Buddhism And A Framer Of India'S Constitution. Ambedkar: Towards An Enlightened India Puts The Man And His Times In Context And Explains To A New Generation Of Readers How He Became A National And Dalit Leader And An Icon Of The Dispossessed.

This study describes and analyses the new social movements that have arisen in India over the past two decades, in particular the anti-caste movement (of both the untouchables and the lower-middle castes), the women's liberation movement, the farmers' movement (centred on struggles arising out of their integration into a state-controlled capitalist market), and the environmental movements (opposition to destructive development, including resistance to big dam projects and the search for alternatives). Rooted in participant observation, it focuses on the ideologies and self-understanding of the movements themselves. The central themes of this book are the origin of movements in the socio-economic contradictions of post-independence India; their effect on political developments, in particular the disintegration of Congress hegemony; their relation to "traditional Marxist" theory and Communist practice; and their groping toward a synthesis of theory and practice that constitutes a new social vision distinct from traditional Marxism.

New Social Movements and the Socialist Tradition in India

Reinventing Revolution: New Social Movements and the Socialist Tradition in India

Challenging Brahmanism and Caste

Buddhism in India

Born in 1891 into an untouchable family, Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar is the acknowledged modern Indian leader of the struggle against social injustice. In this concise biography, eminent scholar Gail Omvedt presents the inspiring story of how Ambedkar got educated, overcame the stigma of untouchability and gradually rose to become a lawyer of international repute, a founder of a new order of Buddhism and a framer of India’s Constitution. She contextualizes Ambedkar’s argument with the elite nationalists, particularly Gandhi, that India could never be truly free without the liberation of its most oppressed sections.

Towards An Enlightened India

Imperialism and the World Food Crisis

The Political Economy of Starvation

Indian Women in Struggle

We Will Smash this Prison!.

'In this English translation, Moon's story is usefully framed by apparatus necessary to bring its message to even those taking their first look at South Asian culture...The result is an easy to digest short-course on what it means to be a Dalit, in the words of one notable Dalit.'-Journal of Asian Studies

This book is an historical survey of Buddhism in India and shows how over a period of 2500 years, Buddhism has been engaged in a struggle against caste-hierarchy. It has challenged Brahmanism, the main exploitative system of traditional Indian society, and instead endeavoured to build religious egalitarianism. The book focuses on the question of what is the 'core' element in Buddhist Dhamma, on what role it has played in the development of Indian civilization, and the changed perspective of Buddhism in a modern industrial age. The author starts with the rise of Buddhism in the middle of the second millenium BC amidst crucial cultural and social developments. The teachings of Buddha and the different forms of Buddhism have been discussed. Here the contrast between Buddhism and Brahmanism with regard to the caste system, the origin and role of state, the approach to various social groups and the position of women is well defined. The author examines the civilizational impact of Buddhism, its connections with ancient India's leading role in trade, its spread and popularity in South and Southeast Asia, its role in fostering a dynamic and open society as against the hierarchical, village-bound, caste-defined Brahmanical social system. Then came the defeat of Buddhism in India and the reassertion of Brahmanism. For centuries Buddhism retreated to what some term as its 'underground survival'. Its relationship with the syncretist Bhakti movement has been another important aspect of the book. Finally the revival of Buddhism in the nineteenth century, the dalit-based success of the religion under Ambedkar and its future in India have been studied. The author argues that Ambedkarian Buddhism can serve as a powerful force for reconstructing society in a new and challenging millenium.

Gail Omvedt

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