Invisibilisation of Ambedkarite Discourse in Bengal

About the Speaker: Subhajit Naskar is an Assistant Professor at the Department of International Relations at Jadavpur University. He has been a vocal anti-caste voice and his research focuses on Caste embeddedness of the Bhadralok Culture in Bengali Society.
Abstract: Bengal is a site of exceptionalism, a bogey, mainstreamed in the academic discourses contrasts with the socio-cultural reality of the Bengali society, especially when looked through the lens of the margin. Historically, the discourse of the margin has been appropriated under the veneer of castelessness by the upper caste Bhadraloks. Upper Casteness of Bengali Bhadraloks camouflage caste as ‘culture’ to maintain hegemony. This talk will discuss how and in what ways the Ambedkarite discourse in Bengal is invisibilized.