Gandhi as a Political Strategist is a book about the political strategies used by Mahatma Gandhi, and their ongoing implications and applicability outside of their original Indian context. Written by Gene Sharp, the book was originally published in the United States in 1979. An Indian edition was published in 1999. The book has been reviewed in several professional journals.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn
Topics covered
Gandhi as a Political Strategist contains 13 chapters that are separated into two major parts (table below, right). All chapters are written by Sharp, who also wrote a preface. The chapters were originally published elsewhere in journals between 1957 and 1970, but were revised for this volume, sometimes extensively.Template:Sfn An introduction by Coretta Scott King, widow of Martin Luther King Jr., states that Gandhi and King each "discovered an idea whose time had long since come,"Template:Sfn but that only with Gandhi as a Political Strategist do we have a single volume providing "an in-depth analysis of Gandhi's political strategy and its relevance for social struggle today.... a lucid, compelling case for nonviolent direct action as the most effective means for advancing social change that humankind has ever known."Template:Sfn
Sharp's preface states that "Many of the people born in the West since 1940 or so have little idea who Gandhi was."Template:Sfn After sketching the epoch in which Gandhi lived, Sharp states that the book's thesis is that
| Part One: Gandhi as a Political Strategist | |
|---|---|
| 1. | Gandhi's Political Significance |
| 2. | Origins of Gandhi's Use of Nonviolent Struggle: A Review-Essay on Erik Erikson's Gandhi's Truth |
| 3. | Gandhi on the Theory of Voluntary Servitude |
| 4. | Satyagraha and Political Conflict: A Review of Joan V. Bondurant's Conquest of Violence |
| 5. | The Theory of Gandhi's Constructive Program |
| 6. | Gandhi's Evaluation of Indian Nonviolent Action |
| 7. | India's Lesson for the Peace Movement |
| 8. | Gandhi's Defense Policy |
| 9. | Gandhi as a National Defense Strategist |
| Part Two: Essays on Ethics and Politics | |
| 10. | Types of Principled NonviolenceTemplate:EfnTemplate:Efn |
| 11. | Ethics and Responsibility in Politics: A Critique of the Present Adequacy of Max Weber's Classification of Ethical SystemsTemplate:Efn |
| 12. | Morality, Politics, and Political Technique |
| 13. | Nonviolence: Moral Principle or Political Technique? Clues from Gandhi's Thought and ExperienceTemplate:Efn |
Sharp notes that "Gandhi offered his views for consideration by others who should independently evaluate them,"Template:Sfn asserting that "In many ways, we have already moved beyond Gandhi. Yet, we will be able to do so far more ably if we seek to learn as much as possible [from Gandhi]."Template:Sfn
Each of Part One's nine chapters focuses on Gandhi as a political strategist. Chapter 1 seeks to rebut what it asserts are six mistaken views of Gandhi that have "masqueraded as 'realistic' assessments."Template:Sfn Two other chapters review and critique books on the origin (ch. 2) and nature (ch. 4) of Gandhi's approach to nonviolence, which he called satyagraha. A chapter on "voluntary servitude" discusses and analyzes Gandhi's view that servitude in hierarchical social and political systems is essentially voluntary, implying that even the worst tyranny can be ended through the withdrawal of submission and cooperation. Another describes Gandhi's theory of the "constructive program... an attempt to build the beginnings of the new social order while the old society still exists."Template:Sfn Other chapters address Gandhi's defense policy, his own evaluation of his success with satyagraha, and implications of the Gandhian experience for the whole world.
The four chapters in Part Two address wider ethical and political issues concerning "how people can live in the real world... without violation of their ethical principles."Template:Sfn One chapter distinguishes six types of "principled nonviolence,"Template:Efn only one of which is Gandhi's satyagraha.Template:Efn Another chapter argues that sociologist Max Weber's influential theoretical dichotomy between an 'ethic of ultimate ends' and an 'ethic of responsibility' is "now inadequate and needs to be replaced."Template:Sfn Sharp proposes an alternative five-part typology.Template:Efn In this second part, Gandhi is the direct focus of only the final chapter, which analyzes the relation between nonviolence as a political technique and nonviolence as a moral principle.Template:Efn
Gandhi as a Political Strategist also includes 6 appendices covering topics such as preparing courses on Gandhi, resources for further study, and other scholarship that uses a "technique approach"Template:Sfn in studying nonviolence.Template:Efn Sharp states that for a "presentation of Gandhi's perceptions of the dynamics of nonviolent struggle in open conflict with a repressive opponent... the reader is referred to... The Politics of Nonviolent Action, Part III."Template:Sfn
Reception
Reviews of Gandhi as a Political Strategist (GPS) have appeared in Contemporary Sociology,Template:Sfn Journal of Developing Areas,Template:Sfn Ethics,Template:Sfn Third World Quarterly,Template:Sfn and American Journal of Sociology.Template:Sfn
In Contemporary Sociology, Rayman stated that "Until this penetrating work by Sharp, there has been no thorough coverage in English of the form and content of Gandhian strategy and political policy."Template:Sfn She wrote that
Among several theoretical contributions,
Rayman concluded that the major shortcoming of "this sophisticated and imaginative work"Template:Sfn was that it "fails to address sufficiently questions of political economy, including class stratification, colonialism, and developing forms of socialism and capitalism within Gandhi's era."Template:Sfn
In the Journal of Developing Areas, Nakhre wrote that in its opening chapters, GPS "effectively explodes some widespread myths and misrepresentations about Gandhi which 'have masqueraded as ‘realistic’ assessments'"Template:Sfn Indeed, GPS "is a book of very great importance to all serious students of conflict. Its scholarship is meticulous and profound. In a world increasingly prone to violence it challenges the reader to look anew at nonviolence, particularly as practiced by Gandhi, as a viable alternative"Template:Sfn
In Ethics, Ostergaard wrote that Sharp makes it clear that "one reason why Gandhi merits attention is that he did directly challenge the means-end framework of thought."Template:Sfn He also stated that:
In the Third World Quarterly, Marxist historian V. G. Kiernan wrote that "Marxists in India in recent years have felt compelled to think afresh about Gandhi and his place in Indian history, even if they do not yet have him in clear focus."Template:Sfn Gandhi as a Political Strategist is "based on thorough sifting of Gandhi's writings and statements... the author's approach is highly appreciative, but not at all uncritical,"Template:Sfn and "it is well worth while"Template:Sfn that these essays have been brought together. While Sharp is convinced that Gandhian methods can be further developed "so as to become a substitute for war between nations,"Template:Sfn Gandhi's own suggestions "can only... offer a starting point."Template:Sfn But "the positive content of Gandhi's philosophy remains, and this survey does justice to it.... that arbitrary governments can only survive while their subjects are willing to kowtow to them."Template:Sfn
In the American Journal of Sociology, Boulding wrote that "No one is better qualified than Sharp to analyze Gandhi as a political strategist and to put his work in the context of 20th-century nonviolent political action in its totality. Had Sharp sat down to do such a review using the tools and concepts he has developed.... we would have had a book of major importance."Template:Sfn But the present book fails to offer "a systematic analysis of the evolution of Gandhi's thought over time, although [Sharp] gives tantalizing suggestions for such an analysis."Template:Sfn More generally, Boulding viewed the book's reprinted essays as repetitive, stating that they "do not hang together well."Template:Sfn She also regarded Sharp as overly simplistic in his characterizations of the western peace movement. To Boulding, the first chapter, reviewing Erikson's Gandhi's Truth, "is one of the best.... It describes the various nonviolent movements active... in Africa... Russia, China, Ireland, England, and India... documenting the largely unrecognized models available to the young Gandhi."Template:Sfn Boulding concluded that a "systematic analysis of Gandhi's strategic thinking in the context of 20th-century currents of nationalism and social change movements has still to be written. I, for one, hope Sharp himself will write it."Template:Sfn
Editions
The original edition was published in the US in 1979, and another English-language edition was published in India in 1999:
- Gandhi as a political strategist: With essays on ethics and politics{{#if:Sharp|, Sharp}. Porter Sargent(1979). ISBN 0-87558-090-4 Template:ISBN, Template:OCLC (357 pages); with introduction by Coretta Scott King.
- Gandhi as a political strategist: With essays on ethics and politics{{#if:Sharp|, Sharp}. Gandhi Media Centre(1999); with introduction by Federico Mayor, then Director-General of UNESCO
Notes
Explanatory notes
Citations
References
- Untitled [review of Gandhi as a Political Strategist, by Gene Sharp]. American Journal of Sociology({Template:Year).
- Untitled review of Gandhi as a Political Strategist, by Gene Sharp. The Acorn: Journal of the Gandhi-King Society({Template:Year).
- Gandhi as a Political Strategist{{#if:Sharp|, Sharp}. Porter Sargent(1979). ISBN 0-87558-090-4
- Untitled [review of Gandhi as a Political Strategist, by Gene Sharp]. Third World Quarterly({Template:Year).
- Untitled [review of Gandhi as a Political Strategist, by Gene Sharp]. Journal of Developing Areas({Template:Year).
- Untitled [review of Dick's Violence and Oppression, and Sharp's Gandhi as Political Strategist]. Ethics({Template:Year).
- Untitled [review of Gandhi as a Political Strategist, by Gene Sharp]. Contemporary Sociology({Template:Year).