
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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