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The Impossible Indian: Gandhi and the Temptation of Violence
"The Impossible Indian" offers a rare, fresh view of Gandhi as a hard-hitting political thinker willing to countenance the greatest violence in pursuit of a global vision that went far beyond a nationalist agenda. Revising the conventional view of the Mahatma as an isolated Indian moralist detached from the mainstream of twentieth-century politics, Faisal Devji offers a provocative new genealogy of Gandhian thought, one that is not rooted in a cliched alternative history of spiritual India but arises from a tradition of conquest and violence in the battlefields of 1857.
Focusing on his unsentimental engagement with the hard facts of imperial domination, Fascism, and civil war, Devji recasts Gandhi as a man at the center of modern history. Rejecting Western notions of the rights of man, rights which can only be bestowed by a state, Gandhi turned instead to the idea of "dharma, " or ethical duty, as the true source of the self s sovereignty, independent of the state. Devji demonstrates that Gandhi s dealings with violence, guided by his idea of ethical duty, were more radical than those of contemporary revolutionists.
To make sense of this seemingly incongruous relationship with violence, Devji returns to Gandhi s writings and explores his engagement with issues beyond India s struggle for home rule. Devji reintroduces Gandhi to a global audience in search of leadership at a time of extraordinary strife as a thinker who understood how life s quotidian reality could be revolutionized to extraordinary effect.
Focusing on his unsentimental engagement with the hard facts of imperial domination, Fascism, and civil war, Devji recasts Gandhi as a man at the center of modern history. Rejecting Western notions of the rights of man, rights which can only be bestowed by a state, Gandhi turned instead to the idea of "dharma, " or ethical duty, as the true source of the self s sovereignty, independent of the state. Devji demonstrates that Gandhi s dealings with violence, guided by his idea of ethical duty, were more radical than those of contemporary revolutionists.
To make sense of this seemingly incongruous relationship with violence, Devji returns to Gandhi s writings and explores his engagement with issues beyond India s struggle for home rule. Devji reintroduces Gandhi to a global audience in search of leadership at a time of extraordinary strife as a thinker who understood how life s quotidian reality could be revolutionized to extraordinary effect.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
June 8, 2020
How do you study man like Gandhi? Gandhi had an opinion on anything and everything, scarcely any of it could be called articulation of a structured political thought, as opposed to what was attempted by his contemporary thinker/practitioner like Lenin or even Mao. In the midst of all these numerous sayings, commentaries, treatises and rejoinders it must seem an unimaginable task of mapping out the processes of Gandhi's politics and his political philosophy. However Faisal Devji has tried to attempt the impossible and in this glorious venture, he has brought out interesting insights into the mind of one of the most revolutionary political thinkers of the modern era. His musings range from the the influence of the sepoy mutiny, the minority struggle of South Africa, the nature of the Khilafat movement, engagement with Hitler and fascism, in general and and finally the great partition.
The most important understanding that can be gleaned that Gandhi was not a pacifist or even a humanitarian. He was a hard-headed idealist whose espousal of non-violence stretched to impractical limits into advocating suffering and sacrifice in the present and all circumstances and thus making possible the moral transformation of the enemy. His tolerance of violence to preserve the moral agency of the actors was legendary which few thinkers have discussed otherwise. This is better understood in the light of what Gandhi said regarding non-violence being the preserve of the strong and it should be distinguished from passive resistance which is just a preperation for armed struggle.
Further, the engagement with Hitler and the fascism has taken an important critique of Gandhi's non violence and this has been explored in further detail, particularly with the coming of the atomic bomb which 'appears to have rendered suffering meaningless not only in a practical sense, illustrated by the conversion of an enemy or at least the transformation of his political strategy, but also by denying it a role in the making of a moral subject.'
However I suspect that the the author sometimes with a view to form a consistent political thought emerging out of Gandhi's ramblings sees too much pattern when there is none and on the other hand conveniently ignores glaring departures. Also it is not an easy read with the author positioning it as a scholarly text and not something which the general reader can take up to explore a uniquely interpreted idea of Gandhi.
Truth and non-violence are therfore inextricably linked to each other and it is impossible to pursue one without the other. Devji has made an important intervention in the study of Gandhi and his political philosophy of non-violence. All the criticisms aside the author showing us a side of Gandhi which for instance would have preferred civil war between interested parties over third party mediation deserves further discussion and debate.
The most important understanding that can be gleaned that Gandhi was not a pacifist or even a humanitarian. He was a hard-headed idealist whose espousal of non-violence stretched to impractical limits into advocating suffering and sacrifice in the present and all circumstances and thus making possible the moral transformation of the enemy. His tolerance of violence to preserve the moral agency of the actors was legendary which few thinkers have discussed otherwise. This is better understood in the light of what Gandhi said regarding non-violence being the preserve of the strong and it should be distinguished from passive resistance which is just a preperation for armed struggle.
Further, the engagement with Hitler and the fascism has taken an important critique of Gandhi's non violence and this has been explored in further detail, particularly with the coming of the atomic bomb which 'appears to have rendered suffering meaningless not only in a practical sense, illustrated by the conversion of an enemy or at least the transformation of his political strategy, but also by denying it a role in the making of a moral subject.'
However I suspect that the the author sometimes with a view to form a consistent political thought emerging out of Gandhi's ramblings sees too much pattern when there is none and on the other hand conveniently ignores glaring departures. Also it is not an easy read with the author positioning it as a scholarly text and not something which the general reader can take up to explore a uniquely interpreted idea of Gandhi.
Truth and non-violence are therfore inextricably linked to each other and it is impossible to pursue one without the other. Devji has made an important intervention in the study of Gandhi and his political philosophy of non-violence. All the criticisms aside the author showing us a side of Gandhi which for instance would have preferred civil war between interested parties over third party mediation deserves further discussion and debate.
January 23, 2019
Dense set of essays to work through on Gandhi's thinking. Devji does an admirable job of presenting an integrated version of Gandhi's contradictory philosophy and beliefs but one can't help feeling that he too often sees a pattern where there is none and glosses over several key incompatibilities. Caste is most saliently the obvious one, and its interesting that Devji refers to Ambedkar only once and doesn't explore Gandhi's thinking on the untouchables. He also doesn't draw on the scholarship of historians such as Kathryn Tidrick and unfairly dismisses the influence of Christian, occult and theosophical thinkers on Gandhi's own thought as not of interest to him. Other problems with Gandhi's thought such as his views on sexuality, towards Africans are left uncovered, one can't help feeling because it would undermine the moral image that Devji has built up of the man.
Nevertheless, this work explains very well Gandhi's qualified approach to non-violence and his toleration of violence in certain contexts. Certainly, he preferred violence to cowardice which he saw as a much greater evil. Devji's explanation of Gandhi's ethics and his wish to de-link actions from their outcomes explains much about the stop-start nature of his civil disobedience campaigns and his approach to Hindu-Muslim violence. The impratical nature of these approaches to politics in the real world, is also something Devji chooses to gloss over.
This is not an easy book to read and the thick concepts as well as sophisticated prose in stretches will take some work to wade through. An important contribution though to Gandhi's thinking and philosophy.
Nevertheless, this work explains very well Gandhi's qualified approach to non-violence and his toleration of violence in certain contexts. Certainly, he preferred violence to cowardice which he saw as a much greater evil. Devji's explanation of Gandhi's ethics and his wish to de-link actions from their outcomes explains much about the stop-start nature of his civil disobedience campaigns and his approach to Hindu-Muslim violence. The impratical nature of these approaches to politics in the real world, is also something Devji chooses to gloss over.
This is not an easy book to read and the thick concepts as well as sophisticated prose in stretches will take some work to wade through. An important contribution though to Gandhi's thinking and philosophy.
June 4, 2023
An interesting reinterpretation of Gandhi from the perspective of his obsession with martyrdom. Not sure if I buy the connections Devji attempts to draw between the 1857 mutiny and Gandhian philosophy.
June 13, 2013
Not a light read. More for those looking to delve into Gandhi's philosophy than his life. But there's a popular trend to depict Gandhi now as a weirdo/elitist/naive idealist/self-serving maniac, and this book rescues him from and reminds us what a radical genius he was. Many of his ideas were unrealistic or misunderstood, but this book leaves you feeling that he was fundamentally right about the need to break out of the usual attack-and-counter-attack of politics.
July 14, 2016
Very innovative in the approach. You normally don't think of Gandhi as a philosopher of violence, rather than of nonviolence, but Devji's argument in this regard is compelling. However, I did find a lot of the language to be sloppy, and intended to find a unity in Gandhi's thought where no unity exists. This book piqued me to write the following post about how Gandhi is not a logical, structured, theorist. http://videshisutra.com/2014/03/10/ga...
May 28, 2021
This was really dense and it took me a while to read but Devji had a very unique insight into Gandhi as a mass political leader and philosopher who as a subject of the Raj formed his worldview and honed his 'weapon' of non-violence in the most violent era of humankind. Gandhi saw duty as the most important quality which makes an individual sovereign, not human rights, which by his account can only be guaranteed by states and so can never truly be in the possession of those who bear them.
Devji gave a very detailed analysis of the many ways in which Gandhi tested and thought of his use of non-violence, and what justifications that were necessary to hold it as a more just weapon than violence. The ways in which Gandhi justified self-rule was wholly original and it was interesting to see how radical he really was. Very dense but I recommend the essay on 1857, the essay "A Nation Misplaced" in which Devji analyzes the relationship why Gandhi formulated Indian self-rule, and the essay "Leaving India to Anarchy" which discusses his thoughts and actions towards non-violence and of the new found states after the British left.
Overall it was a good rehashing of Gandhi's ideas for the modern globalized world.
Devji gave a very detailed analysis of the many ways in which Gandhi tested and thought of his use of non-violence, and what justifications that were necessary to hold it as a more just weapon than violence. The ways in which Gandhi justified self-rule was wholly original and it was interesting to see how radical he really was. Very dense but I recommend the essay on 1857, the essay "A Nation Misplaced" in which Devji analyzes the relationship why Gandhi formulated Indian self-rule, and the essay "Leaving India to Anarchy" which discusses his thoughts and actions towards non-violence and of the new found states after the British left.
Overall it was a good rehashing of Gandhi's ideas for the modern globalized world.
April 7, 2021
Faisal Devji's his arguments in every essay are an eye-opener.
For someone who has played around in Gandhi ashram from my middle school days, steeped in an understanding of the Mahatma - I needed relevant critical perspective to inquire into his radical innovations. Faisal is a great companion on that journey.
questions like how Gandhi positions himself in the context of the idea of the Indian nation or Indian nationalism... Gandhi's relationship to the mutiny of 1857.
Gandhiji's relationship to time - itself. His concept of sacrificing the future, for a truthful present. Faisal makes me see Satyagraha, for the impossibly radical ideal it is. If anything, I feel I have barely understood the depth of the Mahatma's innovations, in a socio-political-"eternal-now" dimension.
Highly recommended read.
For someone who has played around in Gandhi ashram from my middle school days, steeped in an understanding of the Mahatma - I needed relevant critical perspective to inquire into his radical innovations. Faisal is a great companion on that journey.
questions like how Gandhi positions himself in the context of the idea of the Indian nation or Indian nationalism... Gandhi's relationship to the mutiny of 1857.
Gandhiji's relationship to time - itself. His concept of sacrificing the future, for a truthful present. Faisal makes me see Satyagraha, for the impossibly radical ideal it is. If anything, I feel I have barely understood the depth of the Mahatma's innovations, in a socio-political-"eternal-now" dimension.
Highly recommended read.
May 24, 2020
I felt after reading this book and few of its reviews that we can either cherish Gandhian ideolgy Or we can try to follow the lifestyle or we can feel more human talking about the man or we can fool ourselves by doing so but when you put aside the image of a mesmerizing 'Mahatama' but see Gandhi as a political thinker you realize that today's Global as well as local leaders didn't made an ounce of an effort to analyze him. And instead of portraying him as a saint if he was look upon as a political figure who've spiritualized politics and his experiments must have read as a case study than our politics might appear in a better form.
February 18, 2018
An interesting read. I'm no Gandhi fan but was always amused by the variety of comments and discussions stemmed from his concepts and ideologies. My initial temptation to pick this book up is after looking at the tagline to the title. Not much into the book did I realise that this was going to be a long read. If you are planning to pick this up, be prepared for a serious 'study'. I found some chapters uninteresting but the chapters 'bastard history' and 'leaving India to anarchy' were a really good read. 3.5/5.
May 28, 2019
This book was far too densely written for me, but the many lengthy quotes from Gandhi himself have me looking forward to reading more of his writings.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews