How BR Ambedkar’s radical critique of caste could transform transgender activism in India
April 14 marks both the birth anniversary of BR Ambedkar and the 11th anniversary of the Supreme Court of India’s landmark verdict recognising transgender identity, commemorated as National Transgender Day.
These coinciding anniversaries offer a unique opportunity to reflect on the interconnected struggles for social justice. Ambedkar’s critique of caste and advocacy for social justice puts forth a critical framework to understand and support the struggles of Dalit transgender people.
Although the transgender community is frequently understood as a homogenous identity, caste hegemonies have been continually reproduced and preserved within the trans movement.
For trans people from Dalit communities, their gender diversity and caste background often becomes the basis for oppression. They are pushed to the fringes of the margin for not conforming to mainstream gender norms and also for their caste identity.
Ambedkar believed in socio-political transformations that could overhaul an exclusionary and oppressive social structure. For him, a just society ensures equal opportunities, social justice and dignity for everyone, irrespective of caste, gender and ethnicity.
In Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis, and Development, Ambedkar discusses the concept of surplus men and women. He explains that a surplus woman may arise when a husband dies before his wife, while a surplus man occurs when a husband survives his wife. According...
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