Gandhi

Why for Gandhi is the modern state hypocritical?

It is innately fuelled by violence, yet makes pretences that it is not

Why are western government representatives also hypocritical according to Gandhi

They pretend to uphold the will of the ppl, yet his is a facade to fulfill their own self interest + careers

Why are western democratic and liberal values hypocritical to Gandhi

Because they exist at the same time as continued colonial subjugation

What alternative did Gandhi give to the democratic modern state

Decentralised village centric state, to protect individual rights and guard against machinery advancements

What means must be used to achieve this goal (give indian name too)? Where have these been successful (and inspired elsewhere?)

Non violent means which must match their ends (ahisma) - successful in India + inspired US and South Africa

When was Gandhi born, and how did this affect his status etc + when did he marry and study + dietary requirements

Born in 1869, son of a government official

Married at 13

Studied law at 18

Committed vegetarian

Orwell quote on Gandhi's early life

'not one of those saints who was marked out by their phenomenal piety from childhood onwards' (reflections on gandhi)

How did Gandhi react to British culture initially?

Intent on assimiliating himself

Wore a top hat, took dance lessons and even tried to learn violin (Gandhi)

How does Gandhi's London education help his later works

Educated in London, yet detached from rationalist western thought

critique of 'coercise... oppressive, exploitative' nature of the state...

'couched in the language of the law'

Educated at UCL, Bar at Inner temple, so strong knowledge of insider institutions

Orwell critique of Gandhi

Non violent shortcomings with Gandhi's Jewish solution, that they should have thrown themselves at the mercy of Nazi's (which probably would've meant more died)

Where did gandhi then move, and what did he do there

Moved to SA to lawyer for a shipping company

Why did Gandhi become disillusioned with teh empire here?

Disillusioned following segregation on a stage coach

What did he do therefore instead of returning to England

Extended his stay to 21 years - becoming a campaigner against racial discrimination

Satyagraha

Non violent Protest; commitment to the truth undeterred

Hind Swaraj meaning

Self Rule for India (via non violent means)

Swadeshi

Self sufficiency

How would Gandhi gain acclaim in SA

Supported Natal Indian Ambulance corps - raised 1100 volunteers as stretcher bearers

Therefore refuting degrading stereotype of Hindus being incapable of physical labour (Herman, Gandhi and Churchill)

What did Gandhi do in 1909 in response to growing calls for independence

Composed Hind Swaraj in 10 days on board to UK - opposition to British Raj + thrust him into limelight

Phoenix Settlement

Gandhi purchased land to begin his peasasnt like agrarian subsistence in SA

Gandhi's return to India + jailing

Returning in 1914

Jailed for Sedition in 1924 (Runciman)

Campaigns of the 1930s and 1940s

Continuing to campaign for independence - suffering great reprisals from the law

Particularly, with 1930 ahisma protest Salt March

When would Gandhi continue till + when was Raj dissolved

Continued for the next 20 years, till he was assasinated in 1948 - Raj dissolved in 1947

What would Gandhi witness in his final 2 years

Growing sectarian Violence (he hunger striked this)

Assassinated by Hindu Nationalists

Post colonial india, a 'Hobbessian not a Gandhian one' (Runciman)

Which movements did Gandhi attempt to reconcile

INC (Gandhi, national congress)

communist Party

Hindu Separatists (RSS paramilitary)

All India Muslim League (who created separate Pakistan)

How did Gandhi's critique emphasis the contrast between himself and the west

Gandhi's peaceful non violence vs violence and coercion of modern western state - Weber 'the human community that (successfully) lays claim to the monopoly of legitmate violence

How did Gandhi agree with Fanon

Both saw the western state as hypocritical in its doubleness - proliferating at once the sanctity of liberal, democratic values whilst maintaining brutalising colonies

How did Gandhi differ from Fanon

Gandhi distanced himself from Machiavellian realpolitik of 'ends justifying means'

Instead 'means are after all everything' (Hind swaraj) - and play a key role in realisation of political ends

How was Gandhi critical of the political expendiency of the west

Politicians actions, a departure from own views + their constituents - 'it is generally acknowledged that MP's (sic) are hypocritical and selfish... each thinks of his own littel interest. It is fear that is the guiding motive... what is done today may be undone tomorrow (hind swaraj)

How are personal hypocrises rife in modern democracies - even political idealists...

Even political idealists, who 'serve the noblest of causes' take and legitimate 'short, violent cuts to success' (Hind Swaraj)

How do Gandhi's premonitions about political expediency ring true in the modern day

Political expediency manifested in populism - short sighted, popular policies preferred (oweing to social media?) - leads politicians to support positions for short term gains (ie, anti immigration measures, such as stop the boats, very cost effective for little policy, more of a pr)

How does gandhi adapt weber in his definition of the modern state

'violence in a concentrated and organised form' - adapted from Weber - 'human community that successfully lays claim to the monopoloy of (legitimate) force within a given territory (Politiks als beruf)

What did Gandhi's non violent political action avoid (3 things)

(1) emulating British rule, which demonstrated an 'acquiescene to the logic of imperial conquest and legitimated material dominance as an acceptable form of political authority' (mantena, another realism, the politics of gandhian non violence

(2) Non violence effective on Brits, who despite corrupted were 'basically good people' Hind Swaraj

(3) Gandhi - a realist according to Mantena - 'attuned to the unintended consequences of violence' (Mantena, Another realism) - therefore, crafted persona to win in the long term

Orwell on Gandhi's popularity

Increasingly popular - 'nobody every suggested he was corrupt'... 'British officals... genuinely liked and adored him' (reflections on Gandhi)

Gandhi's decentralised model; and how they juxtapose modern democratic govs

Delegation of power throughout Indian villages - an 'oceanic circle' rather than a 'pyramid' - rejecting hierarchies and elites

These villages must be a republic, capable of sustaining and defending itself (Hind Swaraj)

Sharp contrast to modern democratic governments - these lack honesty, truthfulness and accountability

What model of representative government is feasible for Gandhi

One 'grounded in face to face interactions' - at a village level

Why did Gandhi dislike the urban, and how has this been validated in the modern era

Lacked these face to face scrutiny - in the new sprawling cities he saw 'evils which are deplorable' Hind Swaraj in letters to Nehru

staggering slum populations in the modern day eg, Dharavi in Mumbai validate this

How could machinery and technology infiltrate the political sphere

Could make politics 'mechanical and artificial' ... Runciman - 'visions of human beings connected by and dependent on machinery was his worst nightmare... [being] essentially inhuman'

How does this differ from Marx x Engels' view on technology

Marx and Engels looked at awe at machinery, viewing it for the good of socialism rather than in an absurd manner

What prescient descriptions of modern day technology did Gandhi make?

'men will not need to use their hands and feet... they will press a button and have clothing by their side... they will press another and have their newspaper' [hind swaraj] - Gandhi felt correctly that a reliacne on machinery often came at the expense on humans [concentrating power]

Leading to a corrosion of swadeshi, self reliance

How did Gandhi respond to Marxist alienation theory

Supported this - adatpting alienation theory into his critique of Marx - isolating oneself away from their labour

why was Gandhi unique as a hindu

Practising hindu, but empathetic and learned in both christianity, Islam and others

How did Gandhi believe political decisions should be made? what inspired this

Via ethical and moral basis, rather than materialistic and utilitarian approaches of democracies

Inspired by Jain, Hindu and Buddhist Ahisma - an 'inperative to relieve worldly suffering' [hind swaraj]

How did Gandhi differ from western pacifism

Conscientous objections and western pacificism etc, insufficient

Violence in many social, economic and political institutions, which must be protested peacefully

Asceticism - embracing self perfection and restraint gave him moral authority

How did Gandhi inspire US

Runciman - Gandhi inspired NAACP - civil rights and disobediance such as bus boycotts and sit in movements... v effective + charismatic figure of MLK

How did gandhi inspire SA

Mandela, though violent, showed dignity and composure despite arrest and subjugation, to similar international acclaim

Orwell critique of Gandhi - extended

'Hitler killed five million jews. It is the greatest crime of our time. But the Jews should have offered themselves to the butchers knife... it would aroused the world and the people of Germany to Hitler's violence... as it is they succumbed anyway in their millions [Gandhi in an interview, 1946].

+ similar arguments for Soviet Union oppression - where, 'impossible to appeal to outside opinion' - non violence therefore often a futile gesture

How does Modi and the BJP stray from Gandhi's vision of religious pluralism?

Modi and the BJP are closely tied to the RSS and Hindu Nationalism - which has caused sectarian tension and violence, particularly towards Muslims and minorities

How does Modi stray from Gandhi economically?

Modi is very western, promoting modernisation, industrialisation and globalisation + a move away from the rural economy that Gandhi envisioned to digital infrastructure and urban development

How could Gandhi's vision be considered to actually not be political at all

Gandhis emphasis on non violent ahimsa, spiritual transformation and bottom up participation could be argued to have the end goal of the erosion of the state, in a marx esque manner

What does tully praise of Gandhi?

Vision of Counter modernity: (1) Critique of centralised and hierarchical modern state (2) Ahimsa and Moral Authority as a foundation for political power (vs, coercive state) (3) Active Citizenry - direct participation + dialogical approach, with mutual respect being the basis of political interactions (4) Economic self sustainability -> promoting local crafts and offering a viable alternative to unsustainable global capitalism and consumerism