Gandhi's Concept of Non-Violent Resistance, a. k. a. Satyagraha or Soul Force

Send us Fan MailI have  a two-part podcast on Gandhi.  This is Part I. It focuses on  Gandhi's concept or strategy of Satyagraha.  He invented that term himself.  It means Soul  Force.  We might say non-violent resistance.  It is pacifist, but not passive.  it is definitely confrontational.  It was rooted in deep moral concepts, but also in Indian culture and history.  Maybe this podcast will make you want to read the book by Rudolph and Rudolph which discusses those cultural traditions in depth. Gandhi assumed that within every opponent there were good forces with which one could negotiate.  Think of Martin Luther King in Selma.  He assumed that most white people did not like what was going on in the South but they were simply unaware.  If they saw the ugly side of racism with their own eyes, they would do something.  MLK had taken his inspiration and strategy from Gandhi.  And it worked. The second podcast, which I will post in a couple of weeks, is entitled  "Why I Killed Gandhi."  It is the statement Gandhi's assassin read to the court when he was sentenced to die. I suspect you will find it shocking, given that it is logical and reasonable and spoken by a very literate intellectual person.