B. R. Ambedkar as a Humanistic Economist

Abstract

B. R. Ambedkar was a prominent humanistic philosopher in India in the twentieth century. He was a humanistic economist, anthropologist, lawyer, social reformer and political leader who played a pivotal role in making modern India. As a humanistic economist who pioneered analysing economic development challenges, he focused on human dignity, liberty and justice to achieve inclusive development in India. He found that economic inequality, poverty and exploitation resulted from social inequality and employed plural and normative economic analysis methods to establish justice in practice in the Indian economy and even society. He believed that through social, economic and political institutional reforms, an equitable society could be achieved. He was against capitalism and the centralization of economic power; he promoted the egalitarian state and alternative economies. He believed that without democratic institutions, distributive justice could not be achieved, which is the source of human well-being and the flourishment of human lives.