Gandhi's Contribution to Social Theory

Appadorai, A.

doi:10.1017/s0034670500010354

Cited by 8 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…Agentic capabilities in becoming and growing are foundational to Gandhi's philosophy [18]. He believed in service to the people, particularly the underserved and downtrodden populations, in the spirit of love, devotion, and sacrifice [6].…”

Section: Gandhi and Moral Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relevance and Values of Gandhi’s and Bacha Khan’s Moral Education in Negotiating/Addressing Situated Disparities of South Asia

2019

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Focusing on the contemporary conflicts and social political complexities of South Asia (specifically, India and Pakistan), this paper explores the roles and relevance of Gandhi’s and Bacha Khan’s moral education in negotiating/addressing the situated disparities. Drawing from the words and wisdom of Gandhi and Bacha Khan, this paper examines identity issues particularly in the context of (i) gender (disparities and struggles of women (and girls) in the society); (ii) age (situation and contributions of youths and elderly people in bringing about changes); (iii) class (including occupational and caste-based complexities and their negotiations); (iv) ethnicity (struggles of indigenous populations in overcoming situated adversities); (v) religion (tensions and acts of negotiating religious orthodoxies towards creating more secular society); and (vi) regional identities (roles of regional identities in fostering local development). Grounded in their philosophies and pedagogies, the paper discusses the contributions of the two visionaries and their epistemologies/ideologies in studying and/or addressing the issues of contemporary world. This scholarship seems particularly important today when dominant sociopolitical and religious institutions and their agendas often do not value (if not oppose) such moral education, which potentially affects the lives of South Asian populations at large.

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Section: Gandhi and Moral Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relevance and Values of Gandhi’s and Bacha Khan’s Moral Education in Negotiating/Addressing Situated Disparities of South Asia

2019

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“…In the words of Appadurai, "The soul force of the Satyagrahi thus succeeds in converting the wrongdoer to follow the right path as envisaged by the Satyagrahi." 21 If it ever becomes unsuccessful, the problem evidently lies with the satyagrahi who lacks "soul force" to make it successful. Gandhi had no doubt in his mind about the efficacy of fasting as a technique of realizing what one considers as just; he would not allow any rethink of the technique as much as one who goes on fast has the soul force to continue it.…”

Section: The Call For Martyrdommentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Gandhi's mistake is that he has tried to annihilate time, but time is of the very essence of progress whether of individuals or of nations. 56 Her pursuit of success exposed her to instant social death, by subjecting her to cruel social isolation and rejection while her fast as a satyagrahi would have conferred martyrdom on her without making her "successful". This aptly sums up the present dilemma of peace politics in India's Northeast.…”

Section: Will To Death and Agencymentioning

confidence: 99%

Prisoners of Peace

Das

2017

Alternatives: Global, Local, Political

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As Irom Sharmila Chanu breaks her sixteen-yearlong fast on August 9, 2016, struggle for peace in India’s Northeast seems to have turned a full circle. On the one hand, her battle against the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act 1958—the law that empowers even a noncommissioned army officer to open fire on a civilian and in the process kill her with impunity, that is to say, without ever being tried in a court of law—by all accounts made her the “iron lady” and “the Face of Manipur” to the world. On the other hand, notwithstanding her indefinite fast—widely believed to be emblematic of the “collective moral outrage” against the Act—persistent appeals made by a host of national and international human rights groups, eminent public intellectuals, and the recommendation of the respective Committees in favor of repealing it, the Act remains very much in force in parts of Jammu and Kashmir and in the Northeast even after fifty-eight years of its enactment, resulting in the death of hundreds of civilians. This article seeks to explain the implications of this paradox for peace politics in the region. Why does Sharmila have to take the otherwise painful and albeit difficult decision of breaking her fast even when there is little sign of repealing the Act? Insofar as she takes the difficult decision of breaking her fast, she realizes that her prolonged fast becomes subjected to a variety of technologies of governance: first, by calling for the complete sacrifice of her private life, second by turning her fast into a public spectacle rendering it both “unsuccessful” and necessary—significantly both at the same time—and finally by inculcating in her and in many of us the intense desire of pursuing peace through the established political institutions, particularly electoral institutions.

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