Gandhi after Gandhi: The Relevance of the Mahatma’s Legacy in Today’s World

175 Pages·2021·6.288 MB·English

by  Marzia Casolari (editor)

Gandhi After Gandhi
Writing about Gandhi without being obvious is always diffcult. Numerous
books and articles are published every year, especially across the anniver-
saries of his birth and death. The judicious scholar believes that writing
something new on this iconic fgure is almost impossible.
However, in the diffcult times when this book was conceived, at the peak
of what presumably can be considered as the worst humanitarian disaster
of the 21st century, the Gandhian legacy has become more topical than
ever. Gandhi’s thought and experience regarding laws and economy, and
his views on secularism or on the tremendous effects of the colonial rule in
India and beyond provide the opportunity to refect on persistently manip-
ulated constitutions and violated human rights, the crisis of secularism and
the demand of a sustainable, environment-friendly economy.
This book aims not only to offer new insights into Gandhi’s experience
and legacy but also to prove how Gandhian values are relevant to the present
and can provide explanations and solutions for present challenges. Gandhi
After Gandhi will appeal to researchers and students alike interested in In-
dian culture and political thinking and Indian history since independence.
Marzia Casolari is an associate professor of Asian History at the University
of Turin, Italy. She has done extensive research on Indian and South Asian
contemporary history and politics and writes regularly on contemporary
politics in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. With Routledge she published
the book In the Shadow of the Swastika: The Relationships between Indian
Radical Nationalism, Italian Fascism and Nazism.
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For more information about this series, please visit: https://www.routledge.
com/history/series/MODHIST
Gandhi After Gandhi
The Relevance of the Mahatma’s Legacy
in Today’s World
Edited by
Marzia Casolari
First published 2022
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2022 selection and editorial matter, Marzia Casolari; individual
chapters, the contributors
The right of Marzia Casolari to be identified as the author of the
editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters,
has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Casolari, Marzia, editor.
Title: Gandhi After Gandhi : the relevance of the Mahatma’s legacy
in today’s world / edited by Marzia Casolari.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2022. |
Series: Routledge studies in modern history | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021035343 | Subjects: LCSH: Gandhi, Mahatma,
1869–1948—Influence. | Gandhi, Mahatma, 1869–1948—Political
and social views. | Nonviolence. | India—Politics and government—
20th century.
Classification: LCC DS481.G3 G216815 2022 | DDC 954.03/5092 [B]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021035343
ISBN: 978-1-032-05681-4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-05682-1 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-19869-7 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003198697
Typeset in Times New Roman
by codeMantra
Contents
Acknowledgements vii
List of abbreviations ix
List of contributors xi
Introduction 1
PART I
Gandhi, laws and civil rights: Gandhian legacy
in Africa and the United States 7
1 Gandhi and the culture of constitutionalism 9
PRATYUSH KUMAR
2 Gandhi and Pan-Africanism (1919–45) 22
CHIARA CORAZZA
3 Gandhi’s Legacy in South Africa through literature and arts 35
CARMEN CONCILIO
4 “Stride toward Freedom”: Martin Luther King, the
Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Gandhian lesson 46
ANDREA CAROSSO
PART II
Gandhi’s political views and experience in a historical perspective 55
5 The Mahatma and the Muslims. Gandhi’s role in making
India’s partition inevitable 57
MICHELGUGLIELMO TORRI
vi Contents
6 Partitions and beyond: Gandhi’s views on Palestine’s
and India’s divides 74
MARZIA CASOLARI
7 Rethinking Gandhi’s secularism: how did Gandhi’s
Brahmacarya relate to his last political vision? 98
EIJIRO HAZAMA
PART III
Gandhian economy and grassroots experiences 119
8 Gandhi’s visionary critique of industrialisation and Western
civilisation in the light of India’s globalised economy today 121
JAGYOSENI MANDAL
9 A Nayi, Nai Talim: reinventing Gandhian Education for today
and tomorrow: a case study of the Ragi Project, Bangalore, India 134
PALLAVI VARMA PATIL AND ROSHNI RAVI
Appendix 1: Nayi, Nai Talim 143
Appendix 2: The Ragi Project in pictures 145
Epilogue: Gandhi’s legacy and the historical gaze 151
MARIO PRAYER
Index 155
Acknowledgements
This volume is a selection of essays originally prepared for the International
Conference “Gandhi After Gandhi”, held in Turin on 2–3 December 2019.
The idea to talk about Gandhi from an innovative (and provoking) perspec-
tive grew out from conversations and exchanges with my soulmate, Delfo,
and some colleagues from the University of Turin.
The organisation of the conference was supported by the Centro Studi
Sereno Regis – research education and action for peace environment sus-
tainability in Turin. I am grateful to Angela Dogliotti and Elena Camino.
I thank my colleague and friend Alessandra Consolaro for her generous
help in organising the conference.
I am grateful to the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures
and Modern Cultures at the University of Turin for its support throughout
the process, from conference to book.
Above all, I extend my sincere gratitude to all conference presenters, for
making that experience an intellectually rewarding journey that led to the
conception of this book and to the contributors to this volume for their pa-
tience and perseverance throughout the prolonged process of producing a
book. I must thank the reviewers, whose suggestions helped to improve the
quality of this volume.
Finally, I thank Delfo for always inspiring me, for nurturing my intellec-
tual growth and for his endless appreciation of my work.

Abbreviations
ANC African National Congress
CBD Central Business District, Johannesburg
CWMG Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi
FOR Fellowship of Reconciliation
MIA Montgomery Improvement Association
NAACP National Association for the Advancement of Coloured
People
NIC Natal Indian Congress
PCF French Communist Party
SAIC South African Indian Congress
SCLC Southern Christian Leadership Conference
UNIA Universal Negro Improvement Association