12/30/2015 Gandhi as a Political Strategist ­ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gandhi_as_a_Political_Strategist 1/7

Gandhi as a Political Strategist

Author Gene Sharp

Country United States; others

Language English

Publisher Porter Sargent

Publicationdate

1979

Pages 357

ISBN 0­87558­090­4

OCLC 5591944(https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/5591944)

Gandhi as a Political StrategistFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gandhi as a Political Strategist is a book about the political strategies used by MahatmaGandhi, and their ongoing implications and applicability outside of their original Indiancontext. Written by Gene Sharp, the book was originally published in the United States in1979. An Indian edition was published in 1999. The book has been reviewed in severalprofessional journals.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Contents

1 Topics covered

2 Reception

3 Editions

4 Notes

5 References

Topics covered

Gandhi as a Political Strategist contains 13 chapters that are separated into two majorparts (table below, right). All chapters are written by Sharp, who also wrote a preface. Thechapters were originally published elsewhere in journals between 1957 and 1970, butwere revised for this volume, sometimes extensively.[7] An introduction by Coretta ScottKing, widow of Martin Luther King, states that Gandhi and King each "discovered an ideawhose time had long since come,"[8] but that only with Gandhi as a Political Strategist do

12/30/2015 Gandhi as a Political Strategist ­ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gandhi_as_a_Political_Strategist 2/7

Photo of Gandhi inhis 70s, in the 1940s."Many of the peopleborn in the West since1940 or so have littleidea who Gandhiwas."[10]

Chapter Titles (Gandhi as a Political Strategist)

Part One: Gandhi as a Political Strategist1. Gandhi's Political Significance2. Origins of Gandhi's Use of Nonviolent Struggle: A

Review­Essay on Erik Erikson's Gandhi's Truth3. Gandhi on the Theory of Voluntary Servitude4. Satyagraha and Political Conflict: A Review of

Joan V. Bondurant's Conquest of Violence5. The Theory of Gandhi's Constructive Program6. Gandhi's Evaluation of Indian Nonviolent Action7. India's Lesson for the Peace Movement8. Gandhi's Defense Policy9. Gandhi as a National Defense Strategist

Part Two: Essays on Ethics and Politics10. Types of Principled Nonviolence[a][b]

11. Ethics and Responsibility in Politics: A Critique ofthe Present Adequacy of Max Weber'sClassification of Ethical Systems[c]

12. Morality, Politics, and Political Technique

we have a single volume providing "an in­depth 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."[9]

Sharp's preface states that "Many of the people born in the West since 1940 or so have little idea who Gandhi was."[10] After sketching theepoch in which Gandhi lived, Sharp states that the book's thesis is that

Gandhi was an extraordinary political strategist... an appreciation of this is necessary to understand the man and the movementswith which he challenged the most vast Empire which the world had ever seen, and contributed significantly to its dissolution....This book also suggests that we need to continue to consider Gandhi's challenge to established political tenets, his refinements ofnonviolent struggle, and his perceptions of requirements for ending oppression, restructuring society, and lifting dependency onpolitical violence.[11]

Sharp notes that "Gandhi offered his views for considerationby others who should independently evaluate them,"[12]asserting that "In many ways, we have already movedbeyond Gandhi. Yet, we will be able to do so far more ablyif we seek to learn as much as possible [from Gandhi]."[13]

Each of Part One's nine chapters focuses on Gandhi as apolitical strategist. Chapter 1 seeks to rebut what it assertsare six mistaken views of Gandhi that have "masqueraded as'realistic' assessments."[14] Two other chapters review andcritique books on the origin (ch. 2) and nature (ch. 4) ofGandhi's approach to nonviolence, which he calledsatyagraha. A chapter on "voluntary servitude" discussesand analyzes Gandhi's view that servitude in hierarchicalsocial and political systems is essentially voluntary,implying that even the worst tyranny can be ended throughthe withdrawal of submission and cooperation. Anotherdescribes Gandhi's theory of the "constructive program... anattempt to build the beginnings of the new social order while

12/30/2015 Gandhi as a Political Strategist ­ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gandhi_as_a_Political_Strategist 3/7

13. Nonviolence: Moral Principle or PoliticalTechnique? Clues from Gandhi's Thought andExperience[d]

the old society still exists."[15] Other chapters address Gandhi's defense policy, hisown evaluation of his success with satyagraha, and implications of the Gandhianexperience 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 violationof their ethical principles."[12] One chapter distinguishes six types of "principled nonviolence,"[a] only one of which is Gandhi's satyagraha.[b]Another chapter argues that sociologist Max Weber's influential theoretical dichotomy between an 'ethic of ultimate ends' and an 'ethic ofresponsibility' is "now inadequate and needs to be replaced."[16] Sharp proposes an alternative five­part typology.[c] In this second part, Gandhiis the direct focus of only the final chapter, which analyzes the relation between nonviolence as a political technique and nonviolence as amoral principle.[d]

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"[17] in studying nonviolence.[e] Sharp states that for a "presentation of Gandhi'sperceptions of the dynamics of nonviolent struggle in open conflict with a repressive opponent... the reader is referred to... The Politics ofNonviolent Action, Part III."[18]

Reception

Reviews of Gandhi as a Political Strategist (GPS) have appeared in Contemporary Sociology,[1] Journal of Developing Areas,[2] Ethics,[3]

Third World Quarterly,[4] and American Journal of Sociology.[5]

In Contemporary Sociology, Rayman stated that "Until this penetrating work by Sharp, there has been no thorough coverage in English of theform and content of Gandhian strategy and political policy."[19] She wrote that

On the empirical dimension, Sharp.... employs case studies of Indian nonviolent campaigns to demonstrate how Gandhi refused toembrace a dogmatic view of truth but rather sought to make nonviolence a vehicle for experimentation in "the search for truth" forall peoples. Thus, as a political tool, nonviolence posits a duty of disloyalty against unjust regimes, and a commitment to courageand activism on the part of each individual.[20]

Among several theoretical contributions,

12/30/2015 Gandhi as a Political Strategist ­ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gandhi_as_a_Political_Strategist 4/7

Sharp's... attempt to pose nonviolent action as synthesis of the opposing Weberian doctrines of "ethic of ultimate ends and theethics of responsibility" raises serious questions for those who look only to violent revolutions as change catalysts.[20]

Rayman concluded that the major shortcoming of "this sophisticated and imaginative work"[20] was that it "fails to address sufficientlyquestions of political economy, including class stratification, colonialism, and developing forms of socialism and capitalism within Gandhi'sera."[20]

In the Journal of Developing Areas, Nakhre wrote that in its opening chapters, GPS "effectively explodes some widespread myths andmisrepresentations about Gandhi which 'have masqueraded as ‘realistic’ assessments'"[21] Indeed, GPS "is a book of very great importance toall serious students of conflict. Its scholarship is meticulous and profound. In a world increasingly prone to violence it challenges the reader tolook anew at nonviolence, particularly as practiced by Gandhi, as a viable alternative"[22]

In Ethics, Ostergaard wrote that Sharp makes it clear that "one reason why Gandhi merits attention is that he did directly challenge the means­end framework of thought."[23] He also stated that:

Sharp's purpose is to show, especially to those who have too readily dismissed nonviolence as a pacifist illusion, that there doesexist a genuine functional alternative to war, both external and internal. In a world where the Machiavellian principle that the endjustifies the means continues to hold sway, Sharp's approach has much to commend it. If people generally are ever to give up thebelief that, in the last resort, violence is indispensable in settling... important conflicts... it is more likely to come about byconvincing them that nonviolent action is a practical and more effective alternative than by persuading them that violence ismorally unjustifiable.[24]

In the Third World Quarterly, Marxist historian V. G. Kiernan wrote that "Marxists in India in recent years have felt compelled to think afreshabout Gandhi and his place in Indian history, even if they do not yet have him in clear focus."[25] Gandhi as a Political Strategist is "based onthorough sifting of Gandhi's writings and statements... the author's approach is highly appreciative, but not at all uncritical,"[25] and "it is wellworth while"[25] that these essays have been brought together. While Sharp is convinced that Gandhian methods can be further developed "soas to become a substitute for war between nations,"[26] Gandhi's own suggestions "can only... offer a starting point."[26] But "the positivecontent of Gandhi's philosophy remains, and this survey does justice to it.... that arbitrary governments can only survive while their subjectsare willing to kowtow to them."[26]

12/30/2015 Gandhi as a Political Strategist ­ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gandhi_as_a_Political_Strategist 5/7

In the American Journal of Sociology, Boulding wrote that "No one is better qualified than Sharp to analyze Gandhi as a political strategist andto put his work in the context of 20th­century nonviolent political action in its totality. Had Sharp sat down to do such a review using the toolsand concepts he has developed.... we would have had a book of major importance."[27] But the present book fails to offer "a systematicanalysis of the evolution of Gandhi's thought over time, although [Sharp] gives tantalizing suggestions for such an analysis."[28] Moregenerally, Boulding viewed the book's reprinted essays as repetitive, stating that they "do not hang together well."[27] She also regarded Sharpas overly simplistic in his characterizations of the western peace movement. To Boulding, the first chapter, reviewing Erikson's Gandhi'sTruth, "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."[27] Boulding concluded that a "systematic analysis of Gandhi'sstrategic thinking in the context of 20th­century currents of nationalism and social change movements has still to be written. I, for one, hopeSharp himself will write it."[29]

Editions

The original edition was published in the US in 1979, and another English­language edition was published in India in 1999:

Sharp, Gene (1979). Gandhi as a political strategist: With essays on ethics and politics. Boston: Porter Sargent. ISBN 0­87558­090­4. ISBN 0­87558­092­0, OCLC 5591944 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/5591944) (357 pages); with introduction by CorettaScott King.Sharp, Gene (1999). Gandhi as a political strategist: With essays on ethics and politics. New Delhi: Gandhi Media Centre.OCLC 52226697.; with introduction by Federico Mayor, then Director­General of UNESCO

Notes

Explanatory notes

a. The six types are "nonresistance, active reconciliation, moral resistance, selective nonviolence, satyagraha, and nonviolent revolution.... There is nostrict separation between some of these types.... This classification should be viewed simply as a tool to facilitate understanding and study... which isneither perfect nor final" (GPS 1979, p. 206).

b. Sharp identifies two meanings of satyagraha, and Chapter 10 focuses on only one of them. Sharp states that in Chapter 10, "satyagraha is the type ofprincipled nonviolence developed by Mohandas K. Gandhi. This [Chapter 10] discussion is focused exclusively on Gandhi's normative approach tononviolence. The term satyagraha is also used to indicate his technique of action suitable for use by people not sharing his beliefs. On that focus, see thechapters in this book which discuss satyagraha as a technique of struggle" (GPS 1979, p. 219).

c. Sharp's "five 'ideal types' of ethical systems determined on the basis of their view of means and ends" (p. 247) are: "(1) Ethic of loyalty to ultimate endsand unconcern with results.... (2) Ethic of deliberate consistency in means and ends.... (3) Ethic of willingness to use the 'necessary' and 'most suitable'

12/30/2015 Gandhi as a Political Strategist ­ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gandhi_as_a_Political_Strategist 6/7

means.... (4) Ethic of 'the necessary evil of violence'.... (5) Ethic of loyalty to violence as means and end" (GPS 1979, pp. 247–248).d. Sharp notes that "If, as Gandhi believed, the ethical course of action and the practical course of action are ultimately identical, then the 'believer' in the

nonviolent ethic must be involved with the practical development of the political technique, and the 'practical politician' can explore the possibility ofsubstituting effective nonviolent means in place of violence in one specific problem area after another.... If, however, this development did not provepracticable, it would suggest that nonviolence is not valid as an universal ethic." (GPS 1979, p. 305).

e. Shridharani, Krishnalal Jethalal (1939). War Without Violence. New York: Harcourt, Brace and company. OCLC 768773096(https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/768773096) (351 pages). Appendix B of Gandhi as a Political Strategist is adapted from an introduction written bySharp for a reprint of War Without Violence by the Garland Library of War and Peace. New York: Garland, 1972.

Citations

1. Rayman.2. Nakhre.3. Ostergaard.4. Kiernan.5. Boulding.6. Gan 1991.7. GPS 1979, pp. 353–355.8. GPS 1979, p. ix.9. GPS 1979, pp. x–xi.10. GPS 1979, p. xiv.11. GPS 1979, p. xv.12. GPS 1979, p. xvi.13. GPS 1979, p. xvii.14. GPS 1979, p. 5.15. GPS 1979, p. 81.16. GPS 1979, p. 235.17. GPS 1979, p. 316.18. GPS 1979, pp. xv–xvi.19. Rayman, p. 328.20. Rayman, p. 329.21. Nakhre, p. 416.22. Nakhre, p. 417.23. Ostergaard, p. 144.24. Ostergaard, p. 146.25. Kiernan, p. 583.26. Kiernan, p. 584.27. Boulding, p. 915.28. Boulding, pp. 915–916.29. Boulding, p. 916.

12/30/2015 Gandhi as a Political Strategist ­ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gandhi_as_a_Political_Strategist 7/7

References

Boulding, Elise (1981). "Untitled [review of Gandhi as a Political Strategist, by Gene Sharp]". American Journal of Sociology(University of Chicago Press) 86 (4): 915–916. doi:10.1086/227331. ISSN 0002­9602. JSTOR 2778357. ISSN 1537­5390(https://www.worldcat.org/search?fq=x0:jrnl&q=n2:1537­5390)Gan, Barry L. (1991). "Untitled [review of Gandhi as a Political Strategist, by Gene Sharp]" (PDF). The Acorn: Journal of the Gandhi­King Society 5 (2): 27–29. ISSN 1092­6534. OCLC 23113339.Sharp, Gene (1979). Gandhi as a Political Strategist. Porter Sargent. ISBN 0­87558­090­4. OCLC 5591944.Kiernan, V. G. (1980). "Untitled [review of Gandhi as a Political Strategist, by Gene Sharp]". Third World Quarterly (Taylor & Francis)2 (3): 583–584. ISSN 0143­6597. JSTOR 3990943.Nakhre, Amrut W. (1980). "Untitled [review of Gandhi as a Political Strategist, by Gene Sharp]". Journal of Developing Areas (Collegeof Business, Tennessee State University) 14 (3): 415–417. ISSN 0022­037X. JSTOR 3990943.Ostergaard, Geoffrey (1981). "Untitled [review of Dick's Violence and Oppression, and Sharp's Gandhi as Political Strategist]". Ethics(University of Chicago Press) 92 (1): 140–146. doi:10.1086/292305. ISSN 0014­1704. JSTOR 2380711. ISSN 1539­297X(https://www.worldcat.org/search?fq=x0:jrnl&q=n2:1539­297X)Rayman, Paula (1980). "Untitled [review of Gandhi as a Political Strategist, by Gene Sharp]". Contemporary Sociology (AmericanSociological Association) 10 (2): 328–329. doi:10.2307/2066985. ISSN 0094­3061. JSTOR 2066985.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gandhi_as_a_Political_Strategist&oldid=632994528"

Categories: 1979 books Media related to Mahatma Gandhi

This page was last modified on 8 November 2014, at 19:37.Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution­ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agreeto the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non­profitorganization.