Mohandas Gandhi

Abstract The chapter focuses on Gandhi’s political action, and his refining of methods for nonviolent action. The article begins with precursors to Gandhi including the suffragettes and Tolstoy. Ashrams were the backbone of Gandhi’s nonviolent method, and simple living and “constructive program” (eradicating poverty) were central to his focus on Hind Swaraj (which meant self-rule as well as Indian home rule). The analysis follows the development of “satyagraha” as a concept, addresses several satyagraha actions from 1906 to Gandhi’s death in 1948, while focusing on the development of methods such as the strike, fasting, filling jails due to civil disobedience, boycotts, and pilgrimages. It covers controversies such as the tension between violent (Marxist and other) and nonviolent means, and breakdowns of nonviolent discipline. It concludes by looking at Gandhi’s influence on W. E. B. DuBois and other pan-Africanists, as well as the US Civil Rights movement, including Bayard Rustin and M. L. King.