“Educate, Agitate, Organize”: Inequality and Ethics in the Writings of Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar

Arun Kumar; Hari Bapuji; Raza Mir

doi:10.1007/s10551-021-04770-y

“Educate, Agitate, Organize”: Inequality and Ethics in the Writings of Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar

Arun Kumar, Hari Bapuji, Raza Mir

The York Management School

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Scholars of business and management studies have recently turned their attention to inequality, a key issue for business ethics given the role of private firms in transmitting—and potentially challenging—inequalities. However, this research is yet to examine inequality from a subaltern perspective. In this paper, we discuss the alleviation of inequalities in organizational and institutional contexts by drawing on the ideas of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, a jurist, political leader and economist, and one of the unsung social theorists of the twentieth century. Specifically, we focus on Ambedkar’s critique of the Indian caste system, his outline of comprehensive reform, and prescription of representational politics to achieve equality. We contend that an Ambedkarite ethical manifesto of persuasion—focused on state-led institutional reforms driven by the subaltern—can help management researchers reimagine issues of inequality and extend business ethics beyond organizational boundaries.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1-14
Journal	Journal of Business Ethics
Volume	178
Issue number	1
Early online date	25 Feb 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-021-04770-y
Publication status	Published - Jun 2022

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10.1007/s10551-021-04770-y

“Educate, Agitate, Organize”: Inequality and Ethics in the Writings of Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
© The Author(s) 2021
Final published version, 669 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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