ABSTRACT
Cabrera interprets issues of global justice and global institutional development through B.R. Ambedkar and W.E.B. Du Bois in the midst of populism and ethno-religious tribalism. Both Ambedkar and Du Bois campaigned for domestic equality and championed basic principles and rights, looking beyond state governments for support in promoting the principles within. Du Bois sought to put his plan into practice at the newly formed United Nations, and Ambedkar inspired a current network of Dalit activists to do the same. Du Bois and the NAACP delivered an “Appeal to the World” to the UN in 1947, which documented racially motivated discrimination and violence against African-Americans. Ambedkar was inspired by Du Bois’s activism and shared his aspirations; the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR) was formed to put Dalit rights groups in coalition and to press for action involving claims. Ambedkar and Du Bois imply an ambitious model, in which fully global institutions play significant roles in the oversight of states’ rights records, and in which they would have some substantive powers to address widespread violations. Cabrera closes with an imaginary of practical use, able to guide current political struggles and worth upholding as an alternative vision of political institutions.
