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Panel 5:
Philosophical traditions and history of movement for equality since
ancient to present time
This
session on Philosophy and History is intended to invite scholars of
philosophy and historians to provide inputs from the discipline of
philosophy and history in the discourse of struggle between two
philosophical traditions -the one which favoured a society based on
inequality and hierarchy, and the other which opposed it and supported
and propagated the ideology of a society based on equality, liberty, and
fraternity in ancient India and thereafter. Religion and social
historians have used different approaches to interpret the historical
development in India. Some historians, among whom Ambedkar finds a
prominent place, look at Indian history as a struggle between two
traditions, namely the Vedic Brahminical tradition which upholds a
particular religious and social ideology that supported a society based
on the principle of graded inequality. The other was Sramanic ideology
that opposed the principle of graded hierarchy and supported a society
based on the principle of equality and freedom. Buddha and his followers
continuously opposed the Vedic Brahminical social structure. Indian
history, according to Ambedkar, is mainly a history of struggle between
the two cultures--one in support of inequality and the other in favour
of equality. In Ambedkar’s terminology the Indian history has been a
process of revolution and counter revolution. While revolution refers to
a philosophy and religious and social movement for equality and freedom,
counter revolution refers to a philosophy and a socio-religious movement
for an unequal society-- unfreedom)
The
panel discussions under this theme will therefore focus on the struggle
between the Vedic Brahminical philosophical tradition supportive of
inequality and the Sramanic and Buddhist philosophical tradition
supportive of equality, liberty and fraternity. In this session, the
papers will first analyse the social ideology of these two philosophical
schools with a focus on caste and untouchability, and women. Secondly,
the papers will trace the social movements supportive of revolution and
that opposed to it -- counter-revolution. The papers on counter
revolution will cover the ancient, medieval, and colonial periods,
coming down to the contemporary times that Ambedkar had described as
"counter revolution in its most aggressive form."
This theme will also run
for all the three days of the conference through parallel sessions.
About 12 parallel sessions are expected to be held along with
presentation of three Keynote addresses and special lectures on this
theme. |
