B.Tech

This Subject Includes

• Course No: HS 105
• Course: B.Tech
• Semester: IV
• Title: Gandhi: Politics and Ideas
• Stream: History

• Preamble / Objectives (Optional): This course will focus on both the political movements led by Mahatma Gandhi and also the texts and ideas authored by him. The purpose is to consider events and ideas as partially autonomous and yet mutually interacting aspects of Gandhi’s life. The course will bring into relief Gandhi’s role as an original thinker by considering his exchanges with other iconic historical figures like B.R. Ambedkar and Rabindranath Tagore. The course will also shed light on the effect of Gandhian ideas on politics outside the Indian subcontinent. Martin Luther King Jr.’s use of Gandhian ideas in the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s will be discussed as a crucial instance of Gandhi’s international appeal.

  Course Content/ Syllabus: Gandhi in South Africa; Gandhi and the early 20th century Indian National Congress; Hind Swaraj and Gandhi’s early theorization of nationalism; Movements before the noncooperation; The Khilafat; The non-cooperation movement and ensuing controversies; Gandhi and subalternity; Gandhi’s autobiography; the civil disobedience; Gandhi and Ambedkar; Gandhi, Tagore, and the debates on nationalism; The Quit India movement; The partition and the assassination; Gandhi and the women’s question; Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. Books (In case UG compulsory courses, please give it as “Text books” and “Reference books”. Otherwise give it as “References”.

  Texts: (Format: Authors, Book Title in Italics font, Volume/Series, Edition Number, Publisher, Year.)

  1. Sumit Sarkar, Modern India: 1885-1947, Pearson, 2014.

  2. Bipan Chandra, India's Struggle for Independence, 1857-1947, Penguin, 1989.

  3. Judith Brown, Gandhi's Rise to Power: Indian Politics 1915-1922, Cambridge U., 1972.

  References: (Format: Authors, Book Title in Italics font, Volume/Series, Edition Number, Publisher, Year.)

  4. Ramachandra Guha, Gandhi Before India, Penguin, 2013.

  5. Bhikhu Parekh, Gandhi's Political Philosophy: A critical examination, Springer, 1989.