Arguments with Gandhi

Here is Gandhi for a new century: his major legacies and why they still matter, from his foremost biographer.

Gandhi must be on any shortlist of the most impactful political leaders of the twentieth century, and once we eliminate the tyrants—Hitler, Stalin, Mao—Gandhi stands virtually alone. He created one of our most effective weapons for political change in nonviolent collective resistance (satyagraha), a tactic that took down the British empire in India, powered the American civil rights movement, and remains potent today. Celebrated for his leadership in opposing British imperialism, Gandhi mounted less well-known but similarly audacious challenges to his own society. Despite India’s deep religious divisions, he insisted that Hindus and Muslims should live peaceably together, even when fierce sectarian violence erupted in the wake of Partition and ultimately took his life. He advocated the end of untouchable status in India’s deep-seated caste system, a promise of liberation to millions. He embraced justice in relations of gender and race, and opposed rapid industrial development on grounds of environmental sustainability.

Ramachandra Guha’s elegant, authoritative study presents a grounded view of Gandhi’s positions as they evolved through political struggles and exchanges with critics, opponents, and supporters across the world. He also explores the afterlives of these ideas following Gandhi’s assassination and into today’s global politics, when Gandhi’s ecumenical, tolerant, democratic, and nonviolent values are vanishingly rare. With his own country ruled by a narrow, xenophobic Hindu nationalist party, what are his legacies for the twenty-first century? How should we frame his significance for a new generation? Arguments with Gandhi is the perfect vehicle for a reintroduction to this historic figure.