Gandhi's critique of colonialism
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Mohandas K. Gandhi's critique of colonialism was a unique blend of reactionary and radical analysis. On the one hand Gandhi rejected Western notions of progress and favored a return to his utopian version of India's past. On the other hand, he rejected the kind of nationalist thinking which, while common in colonial countries, was itself dependent on the "representational structure" and the "theoretical framework" of Western Orientalism (Chatterjee 155). The common notion, shared by many Indian leaders, was that though colonialism was an evil it would, ultimately, lead to a greater good by bringing the nation into the modern world through industrialization and all the trappings of Western scientific progress. This was the true modern Indian reading of the conflict with the colonial power -- that India should take what it could get from the experience and build on it. These ideas were the direct result of accepting the Western 'Orientalizing' notion that the East needed to be like the West. Gandhi, however, would not accept the modern West as a possible alternative to traditional Indian ways since he believed that this 'progressive' impetus from the West had 'become cancerous by virtue of its disproportionate power and spread" (Nandy, p. 102). What Western industrialization brought about was an increased dependence on consumption which, in turn, produced a need to increase the wants which had to be satisfied. If there is no social need for its products, then indust
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Gandhi's advocacy of the home textiles industry which struck many people as nothing more than an attempt to correct the balance of trade by making Indians independent and rendering the British presence unprofitable. The home textiles idea was part of his wider agenda for returning India to a past in which, essentially, everyone was employed and an orderly society existed.
Though Gandhi's version of India's past is unconvincing and he may not even have believed in it himself, it is clear that he was unwilling to accept the future as it seemed to be designed by the West. But it is easy enough to mistake Gandhi's purposes. In his discussion of Gandhi's Hind Swaraj (Indian Home Rule) Payne is surprised by Gandhi's remarks regarding the British position in India. According to Payne, Gandhi said that "the English should be permitted to remain in India as administrators and policemen, but they must abandon their commercial ventures" (223). Payne calls this position "paradoxical" and assumes that this is the result of Gandhi's tendency to be concerned with moral rather than practical issues. The only satisfactory resolution that Payne can devise for this so-called paradox is to conclude that Gandhi means that the English must ada
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Approximate Word count = 1743
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)
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