ABOUT THE BOOK:
The book represents a radical departure from the genre of writings that deal with thought and works of M. K. Gandhi and B. R. Ambedkar, either singly or in a comparative framework, in a discursive manner or historically and chronologically. These two extremely important personalities left a deep and indelible imprint on the content and direction of Indian politics. However, these writings rarely delve deeper to identify the factors and forces that made them so central to politics in India at a crucial historical juncture and yet so apart.
The merit of the book lies in its exploration and exposition of the deeper factors and forces that entered into the formation of their basic philosophy on life and, emanating from it, their political activities. It traces the basic differences in the worldview, belief structure, and their perspectives on man and his world; it demonstrates how this fundamental difference made for their differential approach to the problem of untouchability, in particular, and other pragmatic aspects of man's existence, in general.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Prof. Ramashray Roy is an eminent political philosopher. He worked as a Senior Fellow and Director of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi. He was also the Director of the Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi as well as its National Fellow and Fellow of the Indian Institute of Advance Study, Shimla.
Prof. Roy believes in breaking the artificial boundary around social science disciplines and projecting a holistic view on social and political problems. He has published more than two dozen books and over fifty articles in national and international journals. His publications include Dalit, Development and Democracy; Politics and Society; Politics and Beyond; Samskaras in India Tradition and Culture, Democracy in India: Form and Substance (SHIPRA). He is currently engaged in an interdisciplinary research focusing on the relationship between economics, democracy and, the state. |
