Ambedkar’s use of Matthew Arnold traces back to John Dewey’s influence.

Evidence

These lines are from the poem “Stanzas from the Grande Chartreuse” by Matthew Arnold (1822–88), English poet and literary critic, reflecting the inner conflict of the Victorian era between scientific progress on the one hand, and religion, identity and values on the other. Ambedkar cites Arnold in “Castes in India” (1916) as well, written during his years at Columbia University. It is possible that Ambedkar often turned to Arnold thanks to his mentor Dewey, who was fond of quoting him. — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 1291

Categorization

• XREF: Ambedkar’s Columbia Dewey lineage; connects to pragmatist foundations of his argument against caste.
• SEED: Possible essay angle: Dewey-to-Ambedkar intellectual genealogy as a route into Ambedkar’s rhetorical style.