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Summary Notes on Gandhi Political Thought
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self-rule, critique of modern state
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To Do- HD Thoreau on Civil Disobedience
- Frazier critique of G unarmed resistance (would result in massacre)
Key Points of Focus
Gandhi’s critique of western civilisation: what is valuable to take from
this for western politics?
What is self-rule and can it be achieved? Relevance to today?
How is peace achieved
Politics without violence?
Is there a viable alternative to Western conceptions of politics and
society?
Critique of west + alternate conceptions, self-rule, politics without violence
Past Exam Questions
Does the Gandhian notion of “self-rule” provide Western politics with any useful
guidance?
Are there viable alternatives to Western conceptions of politics and society?
If ‘self-rule’ is impossible in the modern world, what price is paid?
Can politics exist without violence?
Can politics be guided by morality? (?)
Is perpetual peace practicable? (?)
Could social justice be achieved through politics?
Is Gandhian ‘self-rule’ a solution to contemporary problems such as criminal
violence and environmental catastrophe?
How did Gandhi understand the connection between modern politics and
modern technology?
Does Gandhi offer a viable alternative to representative democracy?
In Gandhi’s view, how is it possible to do politics without violence?
Was Gandhi right to identify the artificiality of Western civilisation as its basic
flaw?
Can Western politics learn from Gandhi’s critique of Western civilisation?
,Paper Guide Reading List
SET TEXT: M.K. Gandhi, ‘Hind swaraj’ in Gandhi, Hind swaraj and other
writings, Anthony Parel, ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997).
• Anthony Parel, ‘Introduction’ in Gandhi, Hind swaraj and other writings,
Anthony Parel, ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997).
• Gandhi and Nehru, ‘Letters Gandhi to Nehru and Nehru to Gandhi’, in Gandhi,
Hind Swaraj and other writings, Anthony Parel, ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1997), pp. 149-156.
• Gandhi and Tolstoy, ‘Letters’ in Gandhi, Hind Swaraj and other writings,
Anthony Parel (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997).
• Gandhi, ‘Gandhi’s political vision: the pyramid versus the oceanic circle’ in
Gandhi, Hind Swaraj and other writings, Anthony Parel, ed. (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1997).
• Karuna Mantena, ‘Another realism: the politics of Gandhian non-violence,’
American Political Science Review, vol. 106, no 2. pp 45-70.
• Lawrence Freedman, Strategy (Oxford: Oxford University Press), ch. 23.
•Sunil Khilnani, ‘Introduction’ to M.K. Gandhi, An autobiography: or the story
with my experiments of truth, (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 2001).
• George Orwell, ‘Reflections on Gandhi’ in George Orwell, Essays
(Harmondsworth: Penguin 2000).
http://www.orwell.ru/library/reviews/gandhi/english/e_gandhi.
B.R. Ambedkar, Annihilation of caste, (London: Verso, 2016).
Bhikhu Parekh, Gandhi: a very short introduction (Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 2001).
Bhikhu Parekh, Gandhi’s political philosophy: a critical examination
(Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1991).
M.K. Gandhi, An autobiography: or the story with my experiments of truth
(Harmondsworth: Penguin,
2001).
Judith M. Brown, ‘Gandhi and civil resistance in India, 1917-47: key issues’, in
Civil resistance and power politics: the experience of non-violent action from
Gandhi to the present, Adam Roberts and Timothy Garton Ash, eds. (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2009).
Joseph Kip Kosek, ‘Richard Gregg, Mohandas Gandhi and the strategy of non-
violence,’ The Journal of American History, vol. 91, no. 4 (2005), pp .1318-1348.
Supervision Reading
Essential Reading:
,Gandhi, Hind Swaraj and other writings, ed. Anthony P.Parel (Cambridge:
Cambridge
University Press, 1997)
Required Background Reading:
Anthony P.Parel, ‘Introduction’ in Gandhi, Hind Swaraj and other writings, ed.
Anthony P.Parel (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997).
Gandhi and Nehru, ‘Letters Gandhi to Nehru and Nehru to Gandhi’, in Gandhi,
Hind Swaraj and other writings, ed. Anthony P.Parel (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1997). 149-156.
George Orwell, ‘Reflections on Gandhi’ in George Orwell, Essays
(Harmondsworth: Penguin 2000).
Also at: http://www.orwell.ru/library/reviews/gandhi/english/e_gandhi
Karuna Mantena, ‘Another Realism: The Politics of Gandhian Nonviolence’,
American Political Science Review, Vol 106, No. 2, 455-70. (see attached)
Alexander Livingston, ‘Fidelity to Truth: Gandhi and the Genealogy of Civil
Disobedience’, Political Theory 2017, 1-26 (see attached)
Bhikhu Parekh, Gandhi: A very short Introduction (Oxford: OUP 2001).
M.K.Gandhi, An autobiography: a story of my experiment with truth
(Harmondsworth: Penguin, 2001). (eBook: http://search.lib.cam.ac.uk/?itemid=|
eresources|5030678 )
, About Gandhi (wiki/lecture 18/02)
- Active 1893-1948
- Nonviolent resistance campaigns for civil rights; organised peasants,
farmers, and urban labourers to protest against excessive land-tax and
discrimination
- Started leading Indian National Congress in 192, leading nationwide
campaigns fot easing poverty, expanding women’s rights, building
religious and ethnic amity, ending untouchability, and achieving Swaraj
(self-rule)
- Close acquaintance with the working of SA state
- Influenced by Hindu/Jain religious atmosphere of upbringing
- Hind swaraj is primarily about not compromising (on independence)
- Similarity to Communist Manifesto:
o Doubleness: for G what is wrong about capitalism is that people
are illusive about what they’re doing, modern life divides you
from yourself…. G (and marx and engel) reject the doubleness
- Differences to Marx and Engels:
o M/E think the wrong people are in charge, not problem with
productive power
o Gandhi hates productive power, mechanised process
o Marxists in india hated G because thought he was deeply anti-
modern
o “Men will not have the use of their hands and feet”. Mechanisation
is alienating, don’t make your own food etc.
o Fundamental unit of analysis for G is the human individual (then
the civilisation to which they belong) vs. M/E class (then the
international)
o G’s conception of pol is spiritual/holistic
o G is not an internationalist vs class transcends national
boundaries and there is an int’l solidarity … sweep away nation-
state
Struggle for Indian independence
- Returned to India 1915, joined national Cong
- Lead Cong from 1920, escalating demands until declaration of
independence 1930…. Negotiations ensued, tensions escalated, Cong
withdraws support from Raj when war declared by Viceroy without
consulting on Germany 1939…. Immediate independence demanded 1942
- Gandhi imprisoned , Muslim leaders cooperated with British
- August 1947: British partitioned land with India and Pakistan becoming
independent but on terms Gandhi disapproved of
Non-co-operation movement
- Book (1909) Hind Swaraj, G declared rule in India established with
cooperation had only survived bc of cooperation, but if they refused
to cooperate, British rule would collapse and swaraj would come
- Satyagraha (civil disobedience) e.g. protest to Rowlatt Act 1919
- Asked crowds not to injure or kill British people but express their
frustration with peace
- Boycott British goods and burn any British clothing they owned
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