Basic Biographical Information
Born in Porbandar, Gujarat (India) to a high-ranking official of a princely state, and influenced by various religious and Arcadian traditions, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi rose to be the chief protagonist of nonviolent resistance campaigns against racial discrimination in South Africa (1893–1914) and of a massive, largely nonviolent nationalist movement against British colonialism in India (1915–1947). In so doing, he transformed nonviolence from being an ethical principle governing interaction between individuals into a powerful, political force on a large scale, the weapon of the disadvantaged in their “battle of right against might.” Gandhi’s social activism greatly contributed to traditions of civil society and social capital in diverse political and cultural settings across the world.
Major Contributions
His political and philosophical ideas – dialogic resistance, satyagraha (truth-force), the significance of individual conscience, swarajin the...
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References/Further Readings
Brown, J. (1989). Gandhi: Prisoner of hope. New Haven, CT/London: Yale University Press.
Hardiman, D. (2003). Gandhi in his time and Ours. Delhi: Permanent Black.
Parekh, B. (1989). Colonialism, tradition and reform: An analysis of Gandhi’s political discourse. New Delhi: Sage.
Parel, A. J. (Ed.) (1997). Gandhi: Hind Swaraj and other writings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Rudolph, L. I., & Rudolph S. H. (2006). Postmodern Gandhi and other essays: Gandhi in the world and at home. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
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Anil Sethi, A.G. (2010). Gandhi, Mohandas K (Mahatma). In: Anheier, H.K., Toepler, S. (eds) International Encyclopedia of Civil Society. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-93996-4_211
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