Developing an Ambedkarite Constitutional Reform Based on Theories of Justice from Plato to Sen

This paper will introduce basic philosophical ideas of justice in the Western tradition spanning Plato to Kant to Hegel to Rawls. We will conclude briefly with Sen’s masterful synthesis of the tradition in response to the Eastern context of India while revisiting the Indian Constitution. My main thesis is that banning ‘untouchability’ and discrimination based on caste is distinct from ‘annihilating’ - to go back to Ambedkar’s classic, Annihilation of Caste - structural casteism in Indian society. We would have to revisit secular doctrines of separating religion from state. Simultaneously, we would have to consider the deep socio-cultural transformation required when religious majorities continue to defend hierarchical stratification, which is an anathema to the basic principles of ‘liberty, equality, and fraternity’ of all individuals in society as the bedrock of true democracy. A comparison of emergent Critical Caste Studies can be compared and contrasted with the tradition of Critical Race Theory and Black civil rights advancements and legal change in the U.S. context. We conclude with certain reflections on justice and the protection of religious minorities, Dalit peoples, and tribal communities in the Indian context.