Academic literature on the topic 'Gandhian concept'

Mahatma Gandhi was a visionary, a supreme leader, a social activist, a philosopher, and a great freedom fighter. He was the pioneer of truth, love, peace, and non-violence (ahimsa) as the means for a peaceful world. This paper deals with the theoretical and practical relevance of Indian ethics concerning the Gandhian concept of Sarvodaya, used to achieve sustainability, social, economic and environmental uplift. The paper critically evaluates the western model of sustainability, and highlights various theoretical aspects of Indian ethics. Specifically, it focuses on the Gandhian sustainability model in Sarvodaya, and attempts to balance the two theories for the practical purpose of sustainability and the need for the present situation.

The great idea of ​​Sarvodaya was in Gandhi's mind from the very beginning, which was flourishing in sync with ancient Indian philosophies like Buddha and Jain philosophy and scriptures in which Gita was main etc., but he was engaged in further refine this idea. Through this concept, Gandhi seeks the welfare of all individuals without any discrimination. It is based on the idea that the welfare of every individual can happen only when there is welfare of the entire members of the society.
 Today, when the world is sitting on a pile of atoms, which can blow up at any time with a bang. The ongoing Russo-Ukraine war is an example of this. In such a situation, this concept is a ray of hope, which nurtures truth, non-violence and love for the whole world, in which everyone can be well-being. It talks about duties rather than rights. Due to which all conflicts automatically come to an end. In fact, it teaches individuals a new way of living which is free from violence and injustice.
 Therefore, the purpose of the present research paper is to present the context that all the problems prevailing at present, whether it is political, social or economic, can be solved by this idea. The true democracy that the present world is looking for can be possible only from Sarvodaya Samaj which will be classless, exploitation free and discrimination free society.
 Abstract in Hindi Language: 
 सर्वोदय का महान् विचार गांधी के मन में प्रारंभ से ही था, जो कि प्राचीन भारतीय दर्षन जैसे बुद्व और जैन दर्शन तथा धर्मग्रन्थों जिनमें गीता मुख्य थी आदि का समन्वय करते हुए पनप रहा था, किन्तु इस विचार को वे अधिक परिष्कृत करने में लगे हुये थे। इस अवधारणा के माध्यम से गांधी सभी व्यक्तियों का बिना किसी भेदभाव के कल्याण चाहते है। यह इस विचार को लेकर चलती है कि प्रत्येक व्यक्ति का भला तब ही हो सकता है जबकि समाज के सम्पूर्ण सदस्यों का कल्याण हो।
 आज जब विष्व परमाणु के ढ़ेर पर बैठा है जो कभी भी एक धमाके के साथ उड़ सकता है। वर्तमान में चल रहा रूस-यूके्रन युद्व़ इसका उदारण है। ऐसे में यह अवधारणा आशा की किरण है जो सम्पूर्ण विष्व के लिए सत्य, अहिंसा और प्रेम को पोषित करती है, जिसमें प्रत्येक व्यक्ति का कल्याण हो सके। यह अधिकारों की बात न करके कर्तव्यों की बात करती है। जिससे समस्त संघर्षों का अन्त स्वतः ही हो जाता है। वस्तुतः यह व्यक्तियों को जीने की एक नयी पद्वति सिखाती है जो कि हिंसा व अन्याय से मुक्त है।
 अतः प्रस्तुत शोध पत्र का उद्वेश्य यही संदर्भ प्रस्तुत करना है कि वर्तमान में व्याप्त सभी समस्याओं चाहे वह राजनीतिक, सामाजिक या आर्थिक हो, का समाधान इस विचार द्वारा किया जा सकता है। वर्तमान विश्व जिस सच्चे लोकतंत्र की तलाश में है, वह सर्वोदय समाज से ही संभव हो सकता है जो वर्गविहीन, शोषणहीन और भेदभावविहीन समाज होगा।
 Keywords: अवधारणात्मक विवेचना, सर्वोदय धारणा के आयाम, गांधी परिप्रेक्ष्य, प्रजातंत्र, नागरिक अधिकार, गांधीय द्वष्टि, सर्वोदय में स्त्री विमर्श

This article examines the relevance of Guattari’s ecosophy and Gandhi’s ecophilosophy to provide an ontological response to environmental (in)justice in the Indian subcontinent in the context of Anthropogenic climate change. Considering what it signifies to live in the Anthropocene, it engages with the Guattarian idea of emancipation and the Gandhian concept of swaraj to understand the ethics of justice in the new climate regime. Through these intellectual encounters, this article develops an ontological framework for addressing the question of human agency in the Anthropocene considering the long history of decolonization in South Asia which was largely shaped by Gandhi’s idea of swaraj. To facilitate engagement across diverse philosophical cultures for the purpose of decolonizing the Anthropocene, this article seeks to understand possible points of alliance between Guattarian ecosophy and Gandhian ecophilosophy. This cross-cultural conversation becomes pertinent when neoliberal capitalism is radically transforming the lives and landscapes of the planet, reconfiguring the registers of what Guattari (2000) has called the three ecologies: namely those of the environment, social relations and human subjectivity. This cross-cultural confluence of philosophical ideas unveils how the ecologies of both humans and nonhumans are globally reconfigured according to the logic of neoliberal capitalism. Therefore, this article seeks to conjoin Guattarian ecosophy and Gandhian ecophilosophy to understand environmental (in)justice in the Indian subcontinent in the context of anthropogenic climate change. Reflecting on Gandhian ideas with the help of Guattarian ecosophy would help us understand the detrimental effects of the colonial Anthropocene. The condition of the Global South is still deeply colonial, which is marked by economic inequality and social injustice. Therefore, engaging with Gandhi and Guattari in the Anthropocene is a task of radical ecological imagination. This article elaborates on this project of radical ecological vision by drawing their philosophical contributions.

AbstractTrusteeship is Gandhi's conceptualization of the contribution of business houses towards social well-being. Trusteeship is a theoretical construct seeking to redefine the relationship between indigenous business houses and the nationalist movement. That Gandhi succeeded in persuading the business men to participate in the freedom struggle, despite adverse consequences, suggests the extent to which Trusteeship was an effective mechanism in political mobilization. Besides elaborating the concept, this paper also argues that Gandhi was indebted to Andrew Carnegie and John D. Ruskin, amongst others, in his effort to articulate Trusteeship as a bridge between business houses and the freedom struggle; and that this Gandhian idea is a forerunner of the contemporary conceptualization of Corporate Social Responsibility.

This article theorizes the colonial problem of peoplehood that Indian anticolonial thinkers grappled with in their attempts to conceptualize self-rule, or swaraj. British colonial rule drew its legitimacy from a developmentalist conception of the colonized people as backward and disunited. The discourse of “underdeveloped” colonial peoplehood rendered the Indian people “unfit” for self-government, suspending their sovereignty to an indefinite future. The concept of swaraj would be born with the rejection of deferred colonial self-government. Yet the persistence of the developmentalist figuration of the people generated a crisis of sovereign authorization. The pre-Gandhian swaraj theorists would be faced with the not-yet claimable figure of the people at the very moment of disavowing the British claim to rule. Recovering this underappreciated pre-Gandhian history of the concept of swaraj and reinterpreting its Gandhian moment, this article offers a new reading of Gandhi's theory of moral self-rule. In so doing, it demonstrates how the history of swaraj helps trace the colonial career of popular sovereignty.

This paper focuses on the role of Mahatma Gandhi in promoting the concept of Gram Vikas or rural development. Mahatma Gandhi was a visionary leader who believed that the key to India's progress lay in the development of its villages. He advocated for selfsufficiency and decentralization as fundamental to achieving rural development and called for the use of local resources and skills to promote sustainable and equitable growth. Gandhiji firmly believed that the well-being of India's society was directly connected to the development of its rural areas. The study examines how Gandhiji's philosophy of nonviolence and education influenced his vision of rural development. He emphasized the importance of promoting cottage industries, handicrafts, and the use of renewable energy sources to create employment opportunities and improve the quality of life for rural communities. Gandhiji's ideas of Gram Vikas are seen as a holistic approach to rural development, encompassing social, economic, and environmental aspects. This work highlight the relevance of his ideas in the context of modern-day challenges such as poverty, unemployment, and environmental degradation. The promotion of Gram Vikas or rural development is seen as a way to address these challenges and create a more equitable and sustainable society. The promotion of Gram Vikas or rural development is essential to achieving this goal, and the principles underlying Gandhiji's vision of rural development can be seen as a way to promote constitutional values of democracy, social justice and equality such as the right to education and gender equality. This paper emphasizes the importance of integrating Gandhian principles in rural development policy and policymakers adopting Gandhi's principles to achieve sustainable rural development. By incorporating these principles into policy formulation and implementation, policymakers can promote equitable and sustainable growth in rural communities. The paper concludes that policymakers must prioritize sustainability to achieve long lasting progress in rural areas and to retain this progress involvement of community and sustainable use of resources is necessary.

AbstractThis article will examine the relationship between Gandhi's two major intellectual developments in his last years: his insistence on political secularism (‘individualization of religion’) and his controversial religious experiments withbrahmacarya(sleeping naked with his 17-year-old grandniece, Manubahen). Contrary to the prevalent interpretations, I will argue that Gandhi's political principle of secularism during the last years of his life entailedimplicitlyhis radical religious belief, which he thought worth risking his life to present before the public. There was an intimate relationship between the concepts ofbrahmacarya, individuality (vyaktitva), and religion (dharm) that constituted his principle of secularism—these concepts were integrated by Gandhi in his distinct Hindu metaphysics ofātmā. Although Gandhi's ideas onātmāwere initially influenced by Śrīmad Rājcandra's Jainism, he later repudiated the latter's views and revised them by incorporating some ideas from Western Orientalists, including Sir John Woodroffe's tantric thought. Gandhi's concept ofātmāwas considered to inhere with the cosmological spiritual power ofśakti, ultimately identified with God (Īśvar, Brahm): this concept ofātmāwas one of the fundamental components of Gandhi's eventual ideas of individuality and religion. Gandhi attempted to realize his ‘unique individuality’ (‘anokhuṃ vaktitva’) in his last religious experiments withbrahmacarya, which were conducted contemporaneously to his increasing political valorization of secularism. Gandhi's secularism was virtually a political platform to universalize religion, paradoxical in that he meant to go beyond the impregnable hedge of privatization by making religiondeeplyindividualized—that is to say,ātmā-centred.