The Book

Debating Swaraj studies Gandhiji’s notion of swaraj as a ‘living concept’, and extends it to various aspects of the political community. The book tries to understand political community by juxtaposing the state/government with the increasingly blurred distinction between peoples’ participation and decision-making on behalf of the people.

Studying Gandhi’s view of swaraj as a ‘living alternative’ for current times, Debating Swaraj  offers a detailed interpretation in a manner that reclaims the centrality of the people in a nation-state. Gandhi believed that real swaraj is not majoritarianism; it is rule by the people for justice. Taking this as the point of departure, the authors, who hail from diverse fields in the social sciences and Gandhian Studies, construe swaraj as a shared responsibility for collective living.

The authors study swaraj in the context of: the early dissenting tradition of the Radical Enlightenment; the significance of non-violence; the primacy of civil society over sovereignty; the dichotomy between the economic agent and the political citizen; understanding technology, science and experience in the context of spinning swaraj; Nayi Talim and self-sufficiency; and the Ambedkar–Gandhi debate concerning texts and traditions.