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Gandhiji in Ahmedabad

Author

Listed:
  • Sudarshan Iyengar

    (Former Faculty, Gujarat Institute of Development Research)

Abstract

This essay deals with M.K. Gandhi’s experiments in practicing swaraj by him and his companions living in an ashram environment. He conceptualized ashram as a social laboratory for community living. It was to be the place to train volunteers for rebuilding India as a nonviolent society. He had begun the experiments in South Africa and continued it after returning to India in 1915. His experiments were aimed at training individuals for self-rule and for rebuilding rural society with decentralized economy consisting of agriculture, dairy (which included leather work), hand-spun cloth making which included weaving and dying. He named this entire process: swadeshi and swavalamban—self-reliance. This essay describes experiments he carried out at two locations: Kochrab and Sabarmati in Ahmedabad. He named his ashrams as Satyagraha Ashram. This essay gives a brief sketch of three institutions Gandhiji founded: Gujarat Vidyapith—a nationalist university for educating the new generation and turning them into volunteers for rural reconstruction, Majoor Mahajan Sangh, a unique trade union where cloth mill workers and owners came together to resolve industrial disputes; and a publishing house to propagate his thought and actions on swaraj, swavalamban, swadeshi, emancipation of women, Hindu-Muslim harmony and removal of untouchability based on Truth and Non-violence. This essay finally analyses his emergence as the leader of the common people and the Indian National Congress between 1915 and 1930.

Suggested Citation

  • Sudarshan Iyengar, 2021. "Gandhiji in Ahmedabad," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 23(1), pages 4-24, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:jsecdv:v:23:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1007_s40847-021-00148-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s40847-021-00148-y
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Ashram; Swaraj; Practice of observances; Engaging India; Emerging leadership;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Z10 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - General

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