ABSTRACT
Social justice as a concept has been part of our social imagination and has been one of the core fundamental ideas in our political discourse that has transformed Indian society. Both Gandhi and Ambedkar, with different perspectives, played a crucial role in shaping the public discourse on social justice in anti-colonial thought. But did their assumptions uniquely anchor the tensions that existed within a discourse of justice in the Indian context? Their interest in constructing India’s post-colonial legal and political structures had a profound effect on the proliferation of new genres and alternative discourses of framing social and political ideals. Their books, articles and published communications have been the object of various interpretations, which usually seek to understand and respond to social, political, cultural and academic conjunctures related to the deepening of the crisis of the political system. Drawing on these two perspectives, I wish to make explicit that this discussion on justice is different from the debates in Western political theory that are mostly understood as considerations for ‘fairness’ (Miller 2013: 209). Their reflections on political institutions, concepts used to interpret and organise political life, the relation between aims of ethics and the nature of politics are still relevant as they continue to inform our current context.
