Gandhi in the West: The Mahatma and the Rise of Radical Protest
Author(s): Sean Scalmer
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.
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Advance praise: 'There are many books available on Gandhi, perhaps too many. Very often they add little to the existing literature and are not particularly well written. Scalmer is providing something genuinely new through his analysis of Gandhi and the Mahatma's impact on the rise of radical protest in the West through the framework of globalization. And his writing, while incredibly well informed (and documented), is accessible - in fact it can be read as a ripping good yarn.' Thomas Weber, La Trobe University. 'In this fascinating book, Sean Scalmer powerfully reminds us that personal charisma does not effortlessly spread to an adoring public. Far from it. Mapping the complexity of the processes through which the Mahatma's personality and ideas ended up influencing so many different strands of activism all over the world, Gandhi in the West provides a masterly synthesis of historical and socio-political structural analysis.' Mario Diani, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona. 'Scalmer employs untapped sources from an unexpectedly deep reservoir of American and British media materials to offer an unprecedented contribution to Gandhi scholarship. It fills a crucial gap in our understanding of the Mahatma's reception in the West, bringing us closer to appreciating why his novel method of nonviolence (satyagraha) became universally compelling, constituting an enduring legacy for peace studies and protest movements.' Dennis Dalton, Barnard College, Columbia University.
Sean Scalmer is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Historical Studies, University of Melbourne. He is author of two books on the history of social movements - Dissent Events: Protest, the Media, and the Political Gimmick in Australia (2002) and The Little History of Australian Unionism (2006). He is also co-author with Sarah Maddison of Activist Wisdom: Practical Knowledge and Creative Tension in Social Movements and co-editor with Stuart Macintyre of What If? Australian History as It Might Have Been (2006).
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.
General Fields
- :
- : Cambridge University Press
- : Cambridge University Press
- : 0.42
- : 31 December 2010
- : 228mm X 152mm X 13mm
- : United Kingdom
- : 01 May 2011
- : books
Special Fields
- : Sean Scalmer
- : Paperback
- : 303.61
- : 254