DEMOCRACY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE: COMPARATIVE INSIGHTS FROM RAWLS AND AMBEDKAR
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Abstract
This research paper presents a critical and systematic comparative analysis of two of the most significant, yet mutually distinct, political philosophies of the twentieth century the liberal contractualist theory of justice developed by John Rawls, and the radical socio-constitutionalist perspective propounded by Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar. The research problem is mainly oriented to the following question: Can process-oriented theories of justice, including that of Rawls, be able to solve the situation in the societies with historical inequalities based on caste? Otherwise, what will an Ambedkarite framework add to sealing this divide? By conducting a qualitative textual analysis of the primary philosophical texts and exploring secondary interdisciplinary literature, this paper has determined both important areas of normative convergence such as the shared concern about human dignity, constitutional democracy, and the welfare of the most disadvantaged and deep structural differences about social ontology, historical consciousness, the role of religion in social reform, and the justification of group-based affirmative policies. The paper states that both of the traditions do not provide a complete sufficient theory of democratic justice in the context of the societies plagued by caste-based exclusion. It is argued in the paper that a merged analysis of the two frameworks would make a stronger, more contextual, and internationally usable model of democratic governance a model that is procedurally just and historically responsible. The implications of these findings on political philosophy, constitutional theory and comparative study of democratic institutions in post colonial societies are that they have.
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