New Books In South Asian Studies

Scott R. Stroud's The Evolution of Pragmatism in India: Ambedkar, Dewey, and the Rhetoric of Reconstruction (U Chicago Press, 2023) is a philosophical engagement with Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s life and works through his intellectual engagement with Deweyan Pragmatism. His exploratory research has engaged with significant moments of Dr. Ambedkar’s life and it has analyzed how they were reconstitutive and reconstructive of John Dewey’s pragmatist tradition. While many of the biographical accounts have explored different facets of Ambedkar’s life, this work has uniquely positioned Ambedkar’s life journey through a philosophical and intellectual lens. The book has a rich archival linkage, as well as it brings analytical appendage to think over what guided Ambedkar’s thoughts and his anti-caste discourse.While the work gives significant philosophical insights, it also opens up questions as to what extent can Ambedkar’s pragmatism be considered unique and exclusive. Or was Ambedkar’s “Rhetorical Pragmatism”, was merely