The Ascendancy of Ambedkarite Social Justice Philosophy Among the Youth of South Assam, India: A Study on the Disjuncture between Conceptual Awareness and Grassroots Praxis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54741/SSJAR/6.2.2026.338Keywords:
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, social justice philosophy, domain paradox, internalized meritocracy, conceptual awarenessAbstract
Though there is a plethora of discussion among scholars about Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s philosophy of social justice, the reception of this philosophy among the youth of Northeast India, especially the geographically and linguistically distinct region of South Assam (Barak Valley), remains a topic of investigation. This paper tries to explore the understanding and practice of Ambedkarism among 500 graduate students of South Assam. The quantitative data reveals that the level of awareness of Ambedkarite ideology among students is high, with 84.6% of students aware of Ambedkar as a social reformer and 96.6% of students aware of Ambedkar's mission of achieving social justice. The research also reveals an important phenomenon of "Implementation Gap," where 56.8% of students are not aware of social organizations in their region. The research also reveals another phenomenon of "Domain Paradox," where students hold the public domain of education and society to be meritocratic and egalitarian but hold the private domain of kinship and marital relations to be rigidly stratified by caste. This change in the domain of students, from a focus on collective mobilization to internalized meritocracy, has serious consequences for the future of Ambedkarite movements in the region. The research concludes with some recommendations to bridge the gap between theory and practice.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Maumita Nath, Debotosh Chakraborty, Bishal Das
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