From Social Death to Dhamma: Caste, Ambedkarite Buddhism, and the Transnational Afterlives of Untouchability

This paper paper uses ideas from Orlando Pattersons theory of death and from people who study the caste system to say that the caste system is a way to slowly take away a persons humanity. This affects who people are how communities work and how people belong to a religion. The paper explores "The Buddha and His Dhamma" and tries to map how Ambedkars Buddhism is a big change in how we think about things. It redefines the teachings of Buddhism as a way to make society more democratic and to get practical applicable principles for making a casteless society. The paper also looks at how the caste system affects communities, in other countries and how it intersects with racism and migration. The caste system is not an Indian problem it is a problem that affects Buddhist communities all over the world.