Term assignment

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Gandhi's Political Writings

Background & Personal Life

Satyagraha

Swaraj

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Outline

• Gandhi's background & personal life

– Early life (childhood, London, South Africa)

– Later life (Indian Nat'l Congress, Salt March)

– Indian Independence & Gandhi's death

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Gandhi – Early life

Mohandas Gandhi (1869 – 1948)

• Mahatma = "Great Soul"

• Lead an Indian independence

mov't against British rule

• Influenced by: – Leo Tolstoy (pacifist)

– Henry David Thoreau

(social/political dissenter)

• Notably inspired: – Martin Luther King

– Nelson Mandela

"In a gentle way, you

can shake the world."

- Mahatma Gandhi

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Gandhi – Early life

Gandhi's childhood

• Father – Local political figure

– Stern and short-tempered

• Mother – Deeply religious (fasting)

– Tolerant of others beliefs

– Common sense approach to human rights (untouchables)

• Arranged marriage – Gandhi was only ________ years old?

– Gandhi felt ________ towards his bride?

– Later influenced Gandhi's views on women and marriage

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Gandhi – Early life

London

• Studied law at University College

• Emulated many British values and

customs  sought acceptance!

• Gandhi experienced _______?

South Africa

• Served as British army medic in "Zulu Rebellion"

• Protests "Indian ID" law

• Gandhi experienced _______?

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Gandhi – Later life

Indian National Congress

• Political party (1885)

• Gandhi joins and leads party (1920)

• He leverages __________ and

__________ groups to great success

Salt March (1930)

• Protesting British tax on salt

• Lasted 25 days, covered 240 miles on foot

• Between 60,000 – 90,000 protestors arrested

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Gandhi – Later life

Indian Independence (1947)

• Split Indian colony into 2 countries

– _________ (Hindu majority)

– _________ (Muslim majority)

• Gandhi opposed this & desired a "unified India"

• One of the largest forced mass migrations ever

seen in the 20th century – Massive human rights violations

– Violence and rape commonplace

– Estimated 1+ million dead

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Gandhi – Later life

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Gandhi – Later life

Gandhi's death (1948)

• Assassinated by a Hindu nationalist seeking to

spark war with Muslims/Pakistan

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Outline

• Satyagraha – defined

• Four (4) cornerstones of satyagraha

– Self-realization

– Ahimsa (non-violence)

– Vegetarianism

– Universal love

• Satyagraha Readings

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Satyagraha (defined)

• Derived from two Sanskrit words

– satya = "Truth"

– agraha = "insistence / reliance on…"

• Satyagraha literally means "appealing to the

Truth…" or "insisting / relying on the Truth…"

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Satyagraha (defined)

• For Gandhi, the "Truth" of our existence is that there

is an "…essential unity connecting all life."

• So then, for Gandhi, adhering to satyagraha means

that all of our actions/thoughts must insist on and

respect that Truth of our existence!

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Self-realization

• Emphasizes individualism and self-reliance

• Gandhi argued that changing the world first requires

us to look inward…not outward!

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Ahimsa

• Derived from Sanskrit himsa ("to do injury / harm")

• Ahimsa is the opposite of this. It literally means

“non-violence” or lacking the desire to injure / harm

• Read pgs. 5, 8, 17-18, 22

Discussion: How does Gandhi's version of non-

violence work? What exactly must we not do?

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Vegetarianism

• Gandhi was raised vegetarian by his mother

• Gandhi is making a moral argument – NOT a vegetarian "because it's healthier…" or "because

it's better for the environment…" etc.

– Instead, Gandhi argues that eating meat causes injury and

also violates the Truth (essential unity of life), therefore it

is wrong!

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Universal Love

• Universal love is closely related to ahimsa and the

Truth (essential unity of life)

Example: • I am being immorally oppressed. However, I cannot harm or

hate my oppressor because doing so would violate ahimsa. In

fact, because of the Truth of existence, I must only send love

out into the world because that's what I want back in return!

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Satyagraha (Readings)

Domination & Submission

• Read pg. 1

• Over time, Gandhi came to understand connection

between Domination and Submission

"The British did not take India from us.

We gave it to them..." - Gandhi

Discussion:

• According to Gandhi, what happens if

we submit to a dominating force? What

if we never submit?

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Satyagraha (Readings)

Civility & Humility

• Read pgs. 26-27, 29

Discussion:

• Why is Gandhi insisting that his followers behave

civilly? Why must they remain humble?

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Satyagraha (Readings)

Rules of Satyagraha

• Read pgs. 32-34

Discussion:

• Why does Gandhi want everyone to follow a specific

set of rules? Don't you just want passionate

followers doing whatever they can to help the cause?

• Do you think Gandhi's tactics would work against all

types of oppressors?

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Outline

• Swaraj – defined

• Four (4) major social reforms of swaraj

– Hindu/Muslim unity

– Removal of “untouchability” from Hinduism

– Uplift women in society

– Economic equality

• Swaraj Readings

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Swaraj (defined)

• Derived from two Sanskrit words

– swa = "self"

– raj = "rule"

• Swaraj literally means "self ruling" or self-

governance

• Read pgs. 2, 3, and 6

What is the Issue?

Gandhi uses the same exact word

to mean two different things!

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Swaraj (defined)

Swaraj – Two (2) meanings:

1. External (political) sense

We must free India from

British control and influence.

2. Internal (self) sense

We must free ourselves from

ignorance and illusion.

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Hindu / Muslim Unity

• Gandhi believed India could not have a true identity

as a nation until it addressed Hindu/Muslim tensions.

• How does Gandhi propose to solve this issue?

Read pgs. 9-10, and 11

Discussion:

So, what is Gandhi's ultimate solution to eliminating

Hindu/Muslim tensions? Answer: "We must cultivate

________, ________ and ________." What do you

think Gandhi's solution?

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Removal of "untouchability" from Hinduism

• Hinduism founded circa 500 BCE

• Caste system (spiritual / commercial / manual labor) – Strict rules re: marriage, social interactions, etc.

• "Untouchables" are ________________

• Read pg. 14

Discussion:

So, what is Gandhi's solution?

How easy/hard will this be?

What exactly has to change to

make this change permanent?

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Uplift women in society

• Gandhi argues that Indian society (men!) have

deliberately kept women from learning/advancing

• Advocates for women's education and active role in

civil disobedience movement.

• Read pgs. 17, 19-20

Discussion:

Do you think Gandhi is serious about

uplifting women? Or is this just a political ploy on his

part? Today, would you regard women as

"degenerated" and in need of "regeneration"?

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Economic equality

• Here, Gandhi is fighting against HUGE wealth

disparities that existed at the time.

• Gandhi wants to end "…the eternal conflict between

capital and labor" to avoid a "violent and bloody

revolution…"

• Read pgs. 24 and 26

Discussion:

• Do wealth disparities always

lead to conflict?

• Do you agree with Gandhi's

view of Western democracy?

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"Oceanic Circle"

• Read pgs. 28-29

Discussion:

• What is Gandhi's overall idea here?

• What part of Gandhi's "oceanic circle" is most important?

• What else from Gandhi's philosophy reinforces the

"oceanic circle"?

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Henry David Thoreau's

Civil Disobedience

Background & Selected Readings

Satyagraha vs. Passive Resistance

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Outline

• Criticisms of Gandhi

• Henry David Thoreau (HDT) - background

• HDT's "Civil Disobedience"

– Selected readings / Discussion

– Satyagraha vs. Passive Resistance

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Criticisms of Gandhi

Discussion:

• Any aspects of Gandhi's philosophy that you agree

with? Disagree with? Anything you think that he is

flat wrong about?

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Criticisms of Gandhi

1. Non-violence has its limitations and will not be

effective against all oppressors.

2. Gandhi's philosophy of satyagraha is difficult

(impossible?) for most people to follow.

3. Religion and politics should not be intermixed.

They are totally different enterprises and should

remain separate.

4. The idea that all violence is evil is problematic.

Morality is actually situational and sometimes

requires or demands violence.

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HDT – background

Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862)

• Essayist, poet, philosopher

• Leader in Transcendentalist mov't – People are inherently good.

– Society & its various institutions

have corrupted us!

Civil Disobedience (1866) • Written while imprisoned for failing to

pay his poll tax

• HDT was protesting slavery and the

Mexican-American War

"I think we should be

men first, and subjects

afterward."

- Henry David Thoreau

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"Civil Disobedience"

Selected Readings

• Read pgs. 1, 2, 3, and 4

Discussion:

• Do you associate your morality with the actions of your

government? Why/why not?

• Who does HDT blame for slavery and Mexican-

American war?

• What is HDT's view of voting to initiate social change?

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"Civil Disobedience"

Selected Readings

• Read pgs. 5, 6, and 9

• Read Conclusion pg. 14

Discussion:

• According to HDT, do we have a moral duty to

eradicate enormous moral wrongs (e.g., slavery)?

• What is the "friction against the machine"?

• Gandhi was fascinated by HDT's time in prison. Why?

Living under unjust laws, where is HDT most free?

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Satyagraha vs. Passive Resistance

Revisit Gandhi's satyagraha readings…

• Read pg. 31

Discussion:

According to Gandhi, are satyagraha and passive

resistance the same thing? If not, how do they differ?

Satyagraha avoids violence/hate ___________?

Passive resistance avoids violence/hate __________?

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Compare/contrast HDT vs. Gandhi

Methods of Civil Disobedience

• Gandhi was / was not a strict pacifist

• HDT was / was not a strict pacifist

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Compare/contrast HDT vs. Gandhi

Duty of Civil Disobedience

• Both believed that we all have a duty to disobey

wrong or immoral laws BUT…

• Gandhi advocated following satyagraha, ahimsa,

and universal love. Strongly endorsed and sought

social changes.

• HDT believes we should not ______________

participate in causing an injustice, but we have no

duty to ______________.

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Compare/contrast HDT vs. Gandhi

Individualism/Solitude

• Both championed the individual & self-reliance BUT…

• HDT advocated simplicity, solitude and communing

alone with nature

• Gandhi advocated simplicity but rejected solitude

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