Ambedkar Democracy and Economic Theory
Ambedkar Democracy and Economic Theory
I. The Context of Caste and Untouchability
The chapter explores the challenges posed by the caste system to the universal notions of liberty, equality, fraternity, and justice.
- Caste as a System of Power: The discourse of power permeates the entire caste hierarchy, causing those at the bottom to be almost immobilized. The socio-cultural, economic, and political lives of the people were enveloped by the caste structure.
- Unique Form of Slavery: Ambedkar asserted that untouchability was a fundamental feature of the caste system as practiced by the Hindus. He concluded that India presented a unique phenomenon where a section of its own people was treated as permanent and hereditary slaves, unknown to humanity elsewhere.
- Territorial Segregation: Untouchability was a form of “territorial segregation,” or cordon sanitaria, forcing the impure into a ghetto or “barbed wire” cage. Every Hindu village maintained a ghetto for untouchables.
- Denial of Rights: The plight of untouchables included the denial of civil rights, such as being prohibited from using public roads in the Konkan region. High-caste individuals required untouchables to stand at a distance so that the former would not be polluted by the untouchable’s shadow.
- Economic Degradation: Untouchability arrested the growth of their personality and material well-being. The untouchables were entirely dependent on the employment and wages provided by the Hindus, leading to economic dependence which was the root cause of their poverty and degradation.
II. Political Strategy for Liberation
Ambedkar believed that political power was crucial for social progress and devised a political strategy for the emancipation of the oppressed classes.
- Political Power as Key: He declared that “Political power is the key to all social progress”. He urged the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and other backward communities to unite to project their combined strength and hold the balance of power in the new democratic setup.
- The “Third Party”: SCs could achieve salvation if they organized themselves into a third party and captured political power.
- Rejection of Gradualism: He strongly pleaded with the oppressed not to wait for their fictional rebirth or the amelioration of their sufferings, insisting that their social liberation must be ensured in this very life as their legitimate right.
- Struggle against Injustice: Ambedkar realized that caste Hindu nationalist leaders would not provide justice to untouchables, citing the Nehru Committee report as neglecting them while appeasing Muslims, which he called a “low Brahminical trick”. He exhorted followers to launch a struggle to win political and economic rights.
- Constitutional Safeguards: He demanded reservation of seats for the depressed classes in government services and legislative assemblies, arguing that it was statesmanship to create faith through concessions and guarantees.
- Three Strategic Components:
- Extracting safeguards and guarantees from the British Government through continuous political agitation and bargaining.
- Treating Caste Hindus, Muslims, and depressed castes as three separate and independent elements of Indian society that must be consulted.
- Capturing political power as the sole means for self-development and rights protection.
- Outcome: The political strategy aimed at the just and fair distribution of political power. The formation of SC pressure groups and the establishment of reservations opened avenues for political power in the post-independence period.
III. Economic Theory and Agrarian Reforms
Ambedkar saw economic and social rights as intertwined with political rights.
- Agricultural Backwardness: In his 1918 paper, ‘The Problem of Small Holdings and its Remedy’, he argued that agricultural backwardness stemmed from small and scattered landholdings, and the ultimate solution was industrial development.
- Land Consolidation: He suggested compulsory consolidation of farms by the state based on the principle of economic holding—a parcel of land necessary to keep a family fully engaged and supported in reasonable comfort.
- Critique of Exploitative Systems:
- Khoti System: This peculiar land tenure system in the Konkan region was heavily oppressive, subjecting the rural poor to practical serfdom or bonded labour for decades. Ambedkar critiqued it forcefully in 1929. He introduced a historic bill in the Bombay Legislature Council in 1937 to abolish the Khoti System and replace it with the Ryotwari System, securing occupancy rights for tenants.
- Mahar Vatan System: This hereditary system was attacked by Ambedkar in Bahishkrit Bharit. His bill to amend the Bombay Hereditary Officers Act 1874 did not pass initially due to the negligence of dominant caste assembly members, but the system was ultimately abolished after his death under the Bombay Inferior Village Vatans Abolition Act 1 of 1959.
- Moneylenders Bill: The Bombay Moneylenders Bill, prepared by Ambedkar in 1938, recommended corrective measures, including mandatory government licenses for moneylenders, compulsory written records, and the mandatory issue of pass-books to borrowers.
IV. Labour Rights and Critique of Capitalism
Ambedkar served as the Labour member of the Viceroy’s Executive Council from 1942 to 1946.
- Right to Strike: He opposed the Industrial Disputes Bill of 1938, which restricted the right to strike, arguing that a strike was a civil right and “not a crime”. He asserted that the right to strike was “simply another name for the right to freedom“.
- Enemies of Workers: He identified the two enemies of the working class as Brahminism and capitalism. He defined Brahminism as the “negation of the spirit of liberty, equality and fraternity”.
- Marxist Tenets: Ambedkar was deeply familiar with Communist philosophy. He listed the core tenets of Marxism, including the view that history is primarily shaped by economic forces, society is divided into owners and workers (classes), and exploitation can only end through the abolition of private property and nationalization of instruments of production.
V. State Socialism and Constitutionalism
Ambedkar was a statist whose political thought centered on the overriding role of the state in both the social and economic domains.
- Statist Economic Planning: He believed the state must be in a prior position to prepare plans for the economic life of the people to achieve maximum productivity and the equitable distribution of wealth.
- Constitutional Socialism: To prevent an anti-socialist majority in the legislature from undoing economic reforms (a possibility under democracy), Ambedkar argued for incorporating socialistic measures into the constitution itself.
- The “States and Minorities” Proposal: His document, ‘States and Minorities’, articulated a scheme for state socialism aimed at “Protection against Economic Exploitation of the Scheduled Caste”.
- Industry: Key industries and basic industries must be owned and run by the State or by State Corporations.
- Agriculture: The state would acquire land, divide it into standard-sized farms, and let them out for cultivation to village residents as tenants (groups of families). These farms had to be cultivated as a collective farm.
- Financing: Compensation for acquired land or industrial concerns would be paid via transferable and inheritable debentures.
VI. Conclusion
Ambedkar’s enduring contribution was forcing the socially oppressed to challenge the existing orthodoxy and ask the penetrating question: “It might be in your interest to be our masters, but how is it in our interest to be your slaves?”.