Gandhi’s Global Legacy

This interdisciplinary collection brings Gandhi's ideas into conversation with issues seldom discussed in Gandhi studies. The contributors engage with cross-cultural and cross-historical time periods, contributing in important ways to the ever-expanding field of Gandhi studies.

While there has been sustained interest in Gandhi’s methods and continued academic inquiry, Gandhi's Global Legacy: Moral Methods and Modern Challenges is unique in bringing together an interdisciplinary group of scholars who analyze Gandhi’s tactics, moral methods, and philosophical principles, not just in the fields of social and political activism, but in the areas of philosophy, religion, literature, economics, health, international relations, and interpersonal communication. Bringing this wide range of disciplinary backgrounds, the contributors provide fresh perspectives on Gandhi’s thought and practice as well as critical analyses of his work and its contemporary relevance.

Edited by Veena R. Howard, this book reveals the need for reconstructing Gandhi’s ideas and moral methods in today’s context through a broad spectrum of crucial issues, including pacifism, health, communal living, gender dynamics, the role of anger, and peacebuilding. Gandhi’s methods have been refined and reimagined to fit different situations, but there remains a need to consider his concept of Sarvodaya (uplift of all), the importance of economic, gender, and racial equity, as well as the value of dialogue and dissenting voices in building a just society. The book points to new directions for the study of Gandhi in the globalized world.

Introduction: Gandhi’s Global Legacy: Historical Developments and the Promise of Moral Methods
Veena R. Howard

Part 1. Gandhi’s Legacy: Lessons of Nonviolence as the “Creative Force of the Universe”

Chapter 1. Mohandas Gandhi: A Challenge to America
The Reverend James M. Lawson Jr. with Veena R. Howard

Chapter 2. Gandhi’s Century
Erica Chenoweth

Chapter 3. The Moral, Philosophical, and Spiritual Basis of Gandhi’s Transformative Nonviolence
Douglas Allen

Part 2. Gandhi’s Legacy: Lessons in Gender Issues, Pacifism, and International Relations

Chapter 4. Gandhi’s Encounter with the British Suffrage Movement: Lessons Learned
Gail M. Presbey

Chapter 5. Was Gandhi a Pacifist? Decolonizing Pacifism While Unpacking the Social Ontology of Nonviolence
Andrew Fiala

Chapter 6. A Gandhian Approach to International Relations
Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra

Part 3. Gandhi’s Legacy: Lesson in Health and Healing, Pluralism, and Public Memory of Gandhi’s Communes

Chapter 7. Prophylactic and Physic: Mahatma Gandhi’s Unique Contribution to Healing Aids and Arts
Makarand R. Paranjape

Chapter 8. “The Doctrine of the Manyness of Reality” Developing a Gandhian Philosophy of Religious Pluralism
Jeffery D. Long

Chapter 9. Living Like Gandhi: The Lessons and Legacy of Gandhi’s Intentional Communities
Karline McLain

Part 4. Gandhi’s Legacy: Lessons in Religious Diversity, Religious Dialectics, and Religion in Public Life

Chapter 10. Gandhi in Conversation with Contemporary Islam: Peace, Pluralism, and Change
Amine Tais

Chapter 11. Gandhi’s Nonviolence: Convergence of Jain Values
Shivani Bothra

Chapter 12. Religion and Public Life: Some Gandhian Considerations
Sanjay Lal

Part 5. Gandhi’s Legacy: Critical Reflections and Constructive Advancement of Gandhi’s Moral Methods

Chapter 13. Paradoxes and Ambivalent Pacifisms: Mulk Raj Anand and His Two Gandhis
J. Ashley Foster

Chapter 14. “Do Not Let Your Anger Die”: King and Gandhi on Anger, Hatred, and Nonviolence
Cheyney Ryan

Chapter 15. Vinoba’s Sarvodaya: A Gandhian Example of Radical Inclusion
Swasti Bhattacharyya

Chapter 16: Gandhi, Global Exemplar: The Promise of Satyagraha and His Constructive Program
Mary Elizabeth King

Afterword: Satyagraha and Gandhi’s Religious Ethics
Joseph Prabhu