Gandhi in the West : The Mahatma and the Rise of Radical Protest

Machine generated contents note: Introduction ; 1. Meeting the Mahatma ; 2. Gandhism in action ; 3. At war over words ; 4. Waiting for the peace train ; 5. The experimenters ; 6. An idea whose time has come? ; 7. Transformations unforeseen ; Conclusion.;"The non-violent protests of civil rights activists and anti-nuclear campaigners during the 1960s helped to redefine Western politics. But where did they come from? Sean Scalmer uncovers their history in an earlier generation's intense struggles to understand and emulate the activities of Mahatma Gandhi. He shows how Gandhi's non-violent protests were the subject of widespread discussion and debate in the USA and UK for several decades. Though at first misrepresented by Western newspapers, they were patiently described and clarified by a devoted group of cosmopolitan advocates. Small groups of Westerners experimented with Gandhian techniques in virtual anonymity and then, on the cusp of the 1960s, brought these methods to a wider audience. The swelling protests of later years increasingly abandoned the spirit of non-violence, and the central significance of Gandhi and his supporters has therefore been forgotten. This book recovers this tradition, charts its transformation, and ponders its abiding significance." Cover 1 Half-title 3 Title 5 Copyright 6 Contents 7 Acknowledgements 8 Introduction 9 1 Meeting the Mahatma 17 Looking at Gandhi 20 Gandhi the Oriental 28 Gandhi the dramatist 34 Coda: on the limits of performance 43 2 Gandhism in action 47 Gandhi’s actions: patterns of attention 51 Gandhi’s actions: patterns of description 58 Gandhi speaks, Gandhi writes 68 3 At war over words 81 What did it all mean? 81 Translating ‘satyagraha’: literalism and assimilation 83 Mistranslations: hyper-difference and over-likeness 94 Cosmopolitan translators 101 Conclusion: on a changing translation 111 4 Waiting for the peace train 113 Damned delays 116 Training for non-violence 124 Organisational adventures I: America takes the lead 132 Organisational adventures II: British laggards 139 Coda: on waiting 143 5 The experimenters 145 On the difficulty of experiment: ‘Operation Gandhi’, and the redefinition of Gandhism 146 Before London: CORE’s redefinition of the Gandhian way 152 On the necessity and prevalence of disciplined organisation, USA and UK 156 The task of evaluation 162 Beyond experiment: developing confidence in a new repertoire 171 Conclusion 173 6 An idea whose time has come? 175 Forget about Gandhi! 176 Remember Gandhi! The Mahatma’s hidden influence 186 Non-violent institutions: the infrastructure of mass, Gandhian protest 192 The continuity of Gandhian forms: recurrent patterns in the performance of protest 201 Conclusion: recovering satyagraha 212 7 Transformations unforeseen 214 Protest and publicity: the equation of the 1960s 219 Size, tactics, and suffering 222 Dynamics of transformation: the perils of the masses 231 Technicians of non-violence and the tyranny of newsworthiness 236 Polarisation and the decline of peaceful protest 240 Conclusion 245 Conclusion 247 Index 251 "The non-violent protests of civil rights activists and anti-nuclear campaigners during the 1960s helped to redefine Western politics. But where did they come from? Sean Scalmer uncovers their history in an earlier generation's intense struggles to understand and emulate the activities of Mahatma Gandhi. He shows how Gandhi's non-violent protests were the subject of widespread discussion and debate in the USA and UK for several decades. Though at first misrepresented by Western newspapers, they were patiently described and clarified by a devoted group of cosmopolitan advocates. Small groups of Westerners experimented with Gandhian techniques in virtual anonymity and then, on the cusp of the 1960s, brought these methods to a wider audience. The swelling protests of later years increasingly abandoned the spirit of non-violence, and the central significance of Gandhi and his supporters has therefore been forgotten. This book recovers this tradition, charts its transformation, and ponders its abiding significance"-- Provided by publisher Where did the non-violent protests of the 1960s originate from? This book uncovers their history in an earlier generation's intense struggles to understand and emulate the activities of Mahatma Gandhi. It documents these efforts, traces their influence on later events, and contemplates their significance.