Book Review – A Step towards Critical Ambedkar Studies Movement

Conversations with Ambedkar: 10 Ambedkar Memorial Lectures,
Edited by Valerian Rodrigues,
Tulika Books–Ambedkar University Delhi.

Book Reivew by Moggallan Bhartiteaches

Ambedkar University Delhi (AUD), along with Tulika Books, has recently brought out a collection of the first ten Ambedkar Memorial Lectures (AML), spanning a decade of its foundation. The volume, edited by Valerian Rodrigues, is unquestionably a nuanced presentation of critical thinking and a philosophy otherwise neglected in the academia, besides being an embodiment of a university’s commitment to the ideas of Dr B.R. Ambedkar. These collected lectures are a firm step towards not just encouraging contemporary engagement with Ambedkar’s ideas, but also go a long way in laying the edifice for an astute association with the critical world view of Ambedkar, who Rodrigues perceptively characterises as ‘a quintessential university person’.

* Moggallan Bhartiteaches at the School of Development Studies, Ambedkar University Delhi, Delhi.