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AMBEDKAR IN LONDON

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By: William Gould Santosh Dass Dr. Christophe Jaffrelot

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Dr Bhimrao R. Ambedkar (1891–1956) was one of India’s greatest intellectuals and social reformers;

his political ideas continue to inspire and mobilise some of the world’s poorest and most socially

disadvantaged, in India and the global Indian diaspora. Ambedkar’s thought on labour, legal rights,

women’s rights, education, caste, political representation and the economy are international in

importance.

This book explores his lesser-known period of London-based study and publication during the

early 1920s, presenting that experience as a lens for thinking about Ambedkar’s global intellectual

significance. Some of his later canon on caste, and Dalit rights and representation, was rooted in

and shaped by his earlier work around the economy, governance, labour, and representation during

his time as a law student and as a doctoral candidate at the London School of Economics.

The Indian diaspora in the UK is the country’s single largest national minority. This volume connects

Ambedkar’s influence during his lifetime, and his legacy today, to this early phase of his career and

intellectual life in London, and its immediate aftermath. It contains new material on the establishment

of the city’s Ambedkar Museum, explores Britain’s Ambedkarite movement, and charts the campaign

to outlaw caste discrimination in the UK.

William Gould is Professor of Indian History at the University of Leeds, where he teaches and

publishes on the history and politics of South Asia.

Santosh Dass MBE , a former civil servant, is a human rights and equality campaigner, fighting for

caste-based discrimination to be outlawed in the UK. She is Chair of the Anti-Caste Discrimination

Alliance, and President of the Federation of Ambedkarite and Buddhist Organisations (2013–23) UK.

Dr. Christophe Jaffrelot is Research Director at CERI-Sciences Po/CNRS, Professor of Indian Politics

and Sociology at King’s College London, President of the French Political Science Association and

Chair of the British Association for South Asian Studies. He works as a Non-Resident Fellow at

the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and as a Permanent Consultant at the Centre

for Policy Planning Staff of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His most recent publication is

Gujarat under Modi: Laboratory of Today’s India (2024).