From Topics to Collective Action Framings : Ambedkarite Buddhism and Anti-Caste Digital Mobilization
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| Year of publication | 2025 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | Dalit-Bahujan and Ambedkarite anti-caste activism in India, which has faced severe fragmentation since the mid-20th century, has, over the last decade, experienced a rise in expectations regarding the potential of digital technologies to transform their mobilisation efforts. A significant portion of the cultural resources driving this social change is rooted in Ambedkarite Buddhism, reflecting the teachings of the Indian social reformer B. R. Ambedkar. His emphasis on the role of religion and conversion in addressing social justice grievances gave rise to Dalit mass conversion movements in the 1950s, aimed at realising his vision of Prabuddha Bharat. This paper draws from social movement theories conceptualising relations between successful mobilisation and collective action framings to explore how Buddhist cultural resources are incorporated into current Ambedkarite anti-caste discourse through accented topics and framings. Using corpus analysis of 3,000 activist writings published on a prominent anti-caste online platform, the paper presents a mixed-methods approach combining Structural Topic Modelling and content coding to develop a classification framing model. The approach aims to deepen understanding of the role digital media plays in shaping subaltern movements and the barriers these movements face in mobilising for collective action, with a particular focus on their interpretations of Buddhism as both a tool and a resource for social change. |
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