Resisting ‘Alterity’: Ambedkar and the Ethics of Recognition

Abstract

This paper reveals how mainstream society is organized around the politics of exclusion. An analysis of the primary institutional forces that shape social hierarchies shows that these are all based on the politics of non-recognition and exclusion. Not only do these systems exist as one-dimensional forms of subordination, but they also combine to create a larger, self-reinforcing and interlinking system of oppression. The main argument is that once domination is accepted on the basis of one arbitrary characteristic—race, nationality, sex, sexual orientation, or class— then it is easier to accept it also on the basis of another. On the other hand, if one form of domination is questioned, then it is likely that other forms are also questioned. Even before the world could debate the consequences of exclusion, Ambedkar had realised that the politics of exclusion plays a vital role in a non-materialist discourse of human and citizenship rights, democracy, recognition and respect. Conversely, he vied for a redistributive egalitarian discourse, which does not represent a denial of the material conditions that lie at the heart of marginalization. Rather, it offers an opportunity to transform the politics of marginalization into one that addresses questions of power as well as participatory processes. In this paper I have made an attempt to develop an analytical framework in which the politics of marginalization and exclusion can be both understood and forged. I have done this through the application of a number of concepts in social and political theory and finally posit that at issue are not just the promotion of an ethics of recognition, but also the redistribution of power and an egalitarian discourse.