Periyar

Karthick Ram Manoharan's book examines the thinking and public work of E. V. Ramasamy, known as Periyar. Its central lens is 'political atheism,' the framework through which the author reads Periyar's sharp, unsparing critique of religion.

The author builds this reading from Periyar's own writings, set beside contemporary accounts of Dravidian politics and the theory of anarchism. Attention falls on how Periyar approached religion and caste, and on the ways these systems have worked alongside the state, offering a fresh account of those relationships.

The book is less a reassessment of Periyarism as a body of doctrine than an argument that Periyar's ideas still matter in international debates about justice, equality, and liberty.