Caste and Race: Ambedkar and King with the Ambedkar King Study Circle

Caste and Race: Ambedkar and King with the Ambedkar King Study Circle

From New Books in Anthropology by New Books Network

April 27, 2026 · 57 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the Ambedkar King Study Circle's anti-caste efforts and the significance of Silicon Valley in caste issues.

This episode features S. Karthikeyan and S. Subbulakshmi, the Convenor and Secretary of the Ambedkar King Study Circle, an anti-caste organization based in Silicon Valley. Our conversation began with a discussion of the choice of B. R. Ambedkar and Martin Luther King Jr. as the titular heads of the organization, then moved on to a conversation about its membership-based structure, the anti-caste struggles in which the AKSC has participated, and the significance of California in general, and the Silicon Valley in particular, as an epicenter of caste consolidation and anti-caste mobilization. Guests: S. Karthikeyan is an IT professional based in Silicon Valley and regular contributor to public outlets such as The Wire. S. Subbulakshmi is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Stanford Centre on Longevity. Mentioned in the episode: B. R. Ambedkar, Annihilation of Caste Martin Luther King Jr., “Where Do We Go from Here?” Savera is a multiracial, interfaith, anticaste coalition of organizations and activists. S. Karthikeyan, “The Hindu Supremacist Disinformation Campaign Against the Caste Discrimination Litigation in US” S. Karthikeyan, “How Protections Against Caste Discrimination Are Being…

People in this episode

Guests: S. Karthikeyan, S. Subbulakshmi

Topics covered

  • caste
  • race
  • anti-caste movements
  • B. R. Ambedkar
  • Martin Luther King Jr.
  • Silicon Valley

Keywords

  • caste
  • anti-caste
  • Ambedkar
  • Martin Luther King
  • Silicon Valley
  • discrimination
  • activism

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Ambedkar King Study Circle, Savera

Books & works: Annihilation of Caste, Where Do We Go from Here?, The Caste of Merit, The Hindu Supremacist Disinformation Campaign Against the Caste Discrimination Litigation in US, How Protections Against Caste Discrimination Are Being Opposed in the US, Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing

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