Moral and Political Thought of Gandhi by Vinay Lal

Moral and Political Thought of Gandhi [Lec 06] (Lecture of 14 April 2016, UCLA). We begin with questions of veracity and interpretation: did Gandhi, for example, say (as is commonly assumed) that 'be the change that you wish to see in the world'. We then go back to the question of Gandhi's years in South Africa and critiques of his politics? What is the nature of oppression? Was Gandhi a racist in some respects? Perhaps. Gandhi was fundamentally ingnorant of the history of black people. But, in contrast, he was relatively well-informed about the history of Jews. The African-American view of Gandhi. We look at some passages in Satyagraha in South Africa in an attempt to understand his perception of "blackness". How does he discuss black nudity? What is Gandhi's own conception of nudity, and what is its meaning? A little more than 50 minutes into the lecture, we begin to consider what Gandhi did upon his return to India. What was the scene of Indian politics like? Two major other nationalist figures at this time were Gokhale and Tilak. The mastery of the courtroom by Indian nationalists. Gandhi's speech in 1916 at the Benares Hindu University. Gandhi's first campaign, effectively, in India is at Champaran; we will transition to the next lecture with a more detailed discussion of what he did at Champaran.