Ambedkar’s Critique of Recognition

Abstract

Despite the democratic upsurge, the traditional social value system perpetuates oppression, humiliation and violence against the oppressed communities, groups and individuals. The oppressed community’s struggle for recognition then becomes necessary in order to be able to live a good life. The various theories of recognition aim towards establishing human good as a normative ethical ideal. However, the scope of existing theories of recognition is limited as they propose new values without adequately displacing the old ones. This creates a contradiction or incoherence within the theory. B. R. Ambedkar’s Annihilation of Caste exposes such a gap and seeks to devise a more capable normative alternative theory. The first part of this paper tries to problematize the idea of recognition. In the second part, it interrogates and engages with the different discourses of recognition. Finally, in the third part, it presents Ambedkar’s theory of recognition as a normative ideal, which encapsulates the project of emancipation.