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Major wars or battles, political revolutions, scientific breakthroughs, or profound social changes often constitute substantial historical turning points. The nineteenth century was a period of intense struggle for America, wrestling with its identity and unity, the quest for emancipation, and conflicts with Mexico. Amid these turbulent times, an initially inconspicuous essay, "Civil Disobedience," penned in 1849 by a then-unknown Henry David Thoreau, proved to be a turning point that eventually changed the world. The essay provided the framework for a conscience-driven protest, which, when applied on a mass scale, gave the world an effective and non-violent method of war. The power of the voice rooted in conscience and courage, an approach sans violence, inspired "successful" movements across cultures, countries, and time. The essay Civil Disobedience laid the foundation for a conscience-driven, non-violent struggle against injustices that changed the course of human history and remains the best hope for fighting injustices in the future. While less recognized in the annals of popular culture than the political machinations of Machiavelli or the strategic doctrines of Sun Tzu, Thoreau's essay on civil disobedience has wielded a far more profound influence. In a world still riven by conflict and injustice, Thoreau's 1849 essay offered the most impactful turning point in humanity's struggle against injustice. It remains as compelling as ever, offering a blueprint for confronting tyranny not with arms but with the power of human conscience. It serves as a reminder that revolutionary changes sometimes begin with the quietest voice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Major wars or battles, political revolutions, scientific breakthroughs, or profound social changes often constitute substantial historical turning points. The nineteenth century was a period of intense struggle for America, wrestling with its identity and unity, the quest for emancipation, and conflicts with Mexico. Amid these turbulent times, an initially inconspicuous essay, “Civil Disobedience,” penned in 1849 by a then-unknown Henry David Thoreau, proved to be a turning point that eventually changed the world. The essay provided the framework for a conscience-driven protest, which, when applied on a mass scale, gave the world an effective and non-violent method of war. The power of the voice rooted in conscience and courage, an approach sans violence, inspired “successful” movements across cultures, countries, and time. The essay Civil Disobedience laid the foundation for a conscience-driven, non-violent struggle against injustices that changed the course of human history and remains the best hope for fighting injustices in the future. While less recognized in the annals of popular culture than the political machinations of Machiavelli or the strategic doctrines of Sun Tzu, Thoreau’s essay on civil disobedience has wielded a far more profound influence. In a world still riven by conflict and injustice, Thoreau’s 1849 essay offered the most impactful turning point in humanity’s struggle against injustice. It remains as compelling as ever, offering a blueprint for confronting tyranny not with arms but with the power of human conscience. It serves as a reminder that revolutionary changes sometimes begin with the quietest voice.

Drawing inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy, the article underscores the enduring relevance of Satyagraha in resolving complex issues. The situation in Manipur from 2023 to 2024 has been marked by inter-ethnic and interreligious clashes driven by politics of redistribution and recognition: it echoes the importance of Gandhi's Noakhali experiment. However, this paper also acknowledges that transposing political ideas or philosophies in two different situations in different periods may not be credulous. This paper discusses whether a Noakhali-style approach can be applied to Manipur and what that approach might entail. Gandhi's commitment to truth, non-violence, and tolerance provides a valuable framework for addressing the multifaceted challenges of places like Manipur, where complicated issues intersect tribe and religious questions with land rights. In Noakhali, Gandhi's strategy involved living in relief camps, organizing prayer meetings, engaging in open communication with all stakeholders, and fostering trust among conflicting parties. This paper sheds light on how trust can be re-instated into the psyche of the Manipuris through Gandhian strategies. It suggests that the Gandhian technique of Satyagraha, which involves dialogue, patience, and moral transformation, possesses the potential to help address the complex issues in Manipur. This paper's analytical premise will be the Gandhian technique of Satyagraha, both as a theoretical framework and heuristic stratagem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People can respond to injustice and conflict using either violence or nonviolence. Violence is power over people; non-violence is power from within. Home economics has long faced injustice in the form of marginalization, disrespect, belittlement, and closures. The culprit is unchallenged ideologies perpetuated by our opponents. This paper queries what would justifying (doing right by) home economics look like from a nonviolence perspective? The paper addresses (a) core aspects of nonviolence (e.g., Satyagraha [inner power], the Truth, selfdiscipline, suffering, no harm, and resistance); (b) nonviolent versus violent principles; and (c) nonviolent right actions (strategies). Threaded throughout are examples of how the profession can benefit if individual home economic practitioners learned and embraced this philosophy. Exposing the ideologies exposes the oppression. Through offering the Satyagraha, practitioners can address our oppression by working hand in hand with our opponents. A greater shared Truth about home economics can ultimately be observed. Using nonviolence, justice can prevail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948)'s relationship with the Jews is explored in this article. The history of this relationship can be divided into two different periods. The first begins during his formative years in South Africa from 1893 to 1914, and the second, during his political activism in India thereafter. The article points out that Gandhi's close Jewish associates in South Africa, although coming primarily from a Theosophist background, considered their support of Gandhi and his struggle to represent their core Jewish values. Still, Gandhi's close Jewish supporters did not successfully influence Gandhi regarding Zionism. In retrospect, Gandhi's objection to Zionism enormously impacted the Indian Congress Party's position regarding Palestine. The article notes that although Gandhi opposed political Zionism, he supported Zionism as a spiritual movement that could be best realized "within." Somewhat surprising and little-known fact was a desire on Gandhi's part to mediate between the Arabs and the Jews in direct talks. Gandhi hoped the Zionist leaders would respond positively to his offer to mediate so that he could advance his teachings of nonviolence while also claiming to represent the Indian Muslims. The article discusses Gandhi's call to German and European Jews to resist the Nazi regime by adopting Satyagraha, the consequent rift with Jewry that followed, and his silence after the Holocaust. Finally, the article also briefly explores B. R. Ambedkar (1891–1956)'s views on the Jews and the Indian pariahs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present the influence of religion on the revolutionary movement that led India to political independence in the last century. The most credit for the changes has Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who achieved political changes through satyagraha without violence. After introducing the term satyagraha, the authors outline Gandhi's life and his spiritual development, which enabled him to think and act nonviolently. The sources of his spirituality are highlighted as the Bhagavad-gita, the Bible and Leo Tolstoy's prose. He was also influenced by Jain religious practice, especially the principle of ahimsa practiced by Mohandas' mother. The paper concludes with an outline of the influence of satyagraha in India and beyond after Gandhi's death.

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Much has been written on Martin Buber's public response to Mahatma Gandhi's article "The Jews", which had been published in the newspaper Harijan in 1938, just after the Nazi pogrom against the Jews known as "Kristallnacht". I wish to examine more closely Buber's conception of God's command to the Jewish people to settle the land of Palestine in a manner that expresses love for their Arab neighbors, seeks harmony and peace in the land, and serves not only the common good among Jews and Arabs but the good of the land itself—that it would be fruitful for all. Central to Buber's conception of the state of Israel in Palestine—and Jewish settlement more generally—was God's ancient command that the Jews must establish a just society. The Jews must be faithful, Buber contended, to build a community and state that obeys God's calling and aligns with their mission to reflect God's justice in the world. Thus, understanding and harmony between the Jews and Arabs must be integral to the Jews' approach to Arabs in Palestine, not peripheral to their mission. Buber's response demonstrates his desire to relate directly and personally to Gandhi, to reveal falsehoods and misunderstandings, and to facilitate a greater awareness of the richness of the Jewish tradition that may be used to benefit the land of Palestine and its peoples. This vision for the Jewish mission deserves more attention in the historiography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the nature and genealogy of Mohandas K. Gandhi's concept of conscience/antarātmā (inner soul/spirit), the cardinal principle of his religious politics. Much previous scholarship, solely relying upon English materials, has explained the nature of Gandhi's concept of conscience in relation to Western and Christian Protestant traditions. By chronologically examining his lifelong discourse on conscience expressed in English and antarātmā in Gujarati and Hindi writings, this article shows that: (1) Gandhi developed a distinct variant of hybrid thought that was essentially different from the prevalent negative conception of "guilty conscience" in the modern West by integrating ideas of conscience and ātmā/ātman; (2) since the notion of ātmā was intimately related to the ascetic bodily discipline (brahmacarya), Gandhi identified the essence of his satyāgraha campaign as ātmabaḷ (the force of ātmā) and believed that taking the vow of brahmacarya could enhance one's vital energy (vīrya); and (3) as Gandhi reached his last years, and the most controversial phase of his intellectual evolution, he developed a new understanding of an inner voice/antarno avāj whose nature was "mystical" (gūḍh), and thereby difficult even for him to articulate in any language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among the biblical characters used as examples in developing and explaining satyagraha, Daniel is the most important after Jesus. In Gandhi's speeches and writings from 1909 to 1946, Daniel served as the ideal satyagrahi both in South Africa and in India. Over time, Daniel received company in the gallery of examples in which Socrates occupied a prominent place. Depending on theme, place, and audience, past and present characters from different traditions and scriptures accompanied Daniel. They represented the development of aspects of satyagraha: nonviolent active resistance as a weapon of the strong, courageous actions as a deliberate choice without excitement, love for the antagonist, preparedness to suffer, and no fear of death. All these aspects are embodied by the Gandhian Daniel. Gandhi emphasized the active role of Daniel as a resister, not the traditional view of the victim of court intrigues. In this paper, I argue that the image of the ideal satyagrahi Daniel could be strengthened by combining the court narratives from the first half and the apocalypses from the second one of the biblical book. The article provides context both for Gandhi's political and religious practice and for the book of Daniel. The strange world of apocalypses seems to contradict the model of the Gandhian figure Daniel. However, they are crisis literature, and it makes sense to observe how the protagonist and his audience in times of occupation, persecutions, and war ask for guidance. Apocalypses show how Jewish resistance to foreign rule was conceived. The result of the survey is a complex image of competing literatures from roughly the same period and the hands, heads, beliefs, and sufferings behind them. The view of the end of history, a program of nonviolence, and hope in the Daniel apocalypse serve as contrast propaganda to contemporary visions on the violent Maccabean revolt and the Seleucid persecutions. They offer a nonviolent counterweight to the ideology of the state propaganda of the Seleucids. They contradict the historiographic idealization of the Maccabean revolt and its armed resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A virtual encounter between Buber and Gandhi articulates where they differ and where they touch common ground. They developed a transformative thinking that opened up the individual and collective ego to others. Only recently have scholars paid full attention to Buber's theo-political thinking. Gandhi's article "The Jews" made his way of thinking irrelevant for many Zionists over the decades. The relative neglect of Buber's political thought and of Gandhi's contribution to conflict resolution in Israel/Palestine explains why studies systematically comparing Buber's politico-religious thinking with that of Gandhi are rare. The present article wants to fill this gap. Gandhi and Buber's religiosity impacted upon spiritual, social, and political life. Their transformational perspectives could shed new light on how to deal with violent conflict situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much has been written on Martin Buber’s public response to Mahatma Gandhi’s article “The Jews”, which had been published in the newspaper Harijan in 1938, just after the Nazi pogrom against the Jews known as “Kristallnacht”. I wish to examine more closely Buber’s conception of God’s command to the Jewish people to settle the land of Palestine in a manner that expresses love for their Arab neighbors, seeks harmony and peace in the land, and serves not only the common good among Jews and Arabs but the good of the land itself—that it would be fruitful for all. Central to Buber’s conception of the state of Israel in Palestine—and Jewish settlement more generally—was God’s ancient command that the Jews must establish a just society. The Jews must be faithful, Buber contended, to build a community and state that obeys God’s calling and aligns with their mission to reflect God’s justice in the world. Thus, understanding and harmony between the Jews and Arabs must be integral to the Jews’ approach to Arabs in Palestine, not peripheral to their mission. Buber’s response demonstrates his desire to relate directly and personally to Gandhi, to reveal falsehoods and misunderstandings, and to facilitate a greater awareness of the richness of the Jewish tradition that may be used to benefit the land of Palestine and its peoples. This vision for the Jewish mission deserves more attention in the historiography.

Apartheid South Africa is a perfect example of inequality and racial discrimination in the 20th century. Athol Fugard’s “Master Harold”… and the boys clearly depicts the colonialist ideology that existed during apartheid era. The aim of this study is to deal with Gandhi’s ideas about conflict resolution. Mahatma Gandhi sees non-violence as a solution. Athol Fugard’s “Master Harold”… and the boys is anti-colonialist, and this play also shows that those who have internalized their superiority and inferiority are more vulnerable to colonialist psychology. Fugard has suggested way of decolonialization is Satyagraha, which is a kind of non-violent resistance proposed by Mahatma Gandhi. Fugard’s suggested kind of resistance, as shown in the play, cannot be achieved through coercion. It is achieved by means of conversion.

Among the biblical characters used as examples in developing and explaining satyagraha, Daniel is the most important after Jesus. In Gandhi’s speeches and writings from 1909 to 1946, Daniel served as the ideal satyagrahi both in South Africa and in India. Over time, Daniel received company in the gallery of examples in which Socrates occupied a prominent place. Depending on theme, place, and audience, past and present characters from different traditions and scriptures accompanied Daniel. They represented the development of aspects of satyagraha: nonviolent active resistance as a weapon of the strong, courageous actions as a deliberate choice without excitement, love for the antagonist, preparedness to suffer, and no fear of death. All these aspects are embodied by the Gandhian Daniel. Gandhi emphasized the active role of Daniel as a resister, not the traditional view of the victim of court intrigues. In this paper, I argue that the image of the ideal satyagrahi Daniel could be strengthened by combining the court narratives from the first half and the apocalypses from the second one of the biblical book. The article provides context both for Gandhi’s political and religious practice and for the book of Daniel. The strange world of apocalypses seems to contradict the model of the Gandhian figure Daniel. However, they are crisis literature, and it makes sense to observe how the protagonist and his audience in times of occupation, persecutions, and war ask for guidance. Apocalypses show how Jewish resistance to foreign rule was conceived. The result of the survey is a complex image of competing literatures from roughly the same period and the hands, heads, beliefs, and sufferings behind them. The view of the end of history, a program of nonviolence, and hope in the Daniel apocalypse serve as contrast propaganda to contemporary visions on the violent Maccabean revolt and the Seleucid persecutions. They offer a nonviolent counterweight to the ideology of the state propaganda of the Seleucids. They contradict the historiographic idealization of the Maccabean revolt and its armed resistance.

Gandhi remains the most intensely scrutinised persona in the history of Indians in colonial South Africa between 1893 and 1914, the year of his arrival and the year of his departure from South Africa. He has been described in extremes, from being a charismatic leader, a representative of toilers, to being a mascot of commercial elites, or a promoter of upper-class Indians. Gandhi had spent good number of years in South Africa fighting for justice against virulent racial discrimination, practised by Europeans, that denied to Indians their basic civic and human rights. Within a decade, he transformed the struggle of Indians by launching passive resistance, the non-violent Satyagraha, fighting hard to make the people aware of their rights for a better society. In South Africa, the Indian masses joined Gandhi to find political solutions against racial injustices in an entirely novel way - as warriors without arms and weapons. In the process, Gandhi got transformed from a barrister to a leader, a journey that meandered through several phases. This paper argues that Gandhi not only believed in his own capacity to fight against an unjust rule but he also believed in inculcating the capacity of common people to fight against an unjust rule. This he showed through his actions and the people got the courage to follow him. When Gandhi reached South Africa in 1893 in connection with a lawsuit, it comprised of Natal and the Cape - the two British colonies, and the Transvaal and Orange Free State - the two Boer Republics. At the time, Indians predominantly lived in Natal, and, in reasonable numbers in the Transvaal, with a sprinkled and inconsequential population in the Cape and Orange Free State. Indians first arrived in Natal in 1860 as indentured labourers by ship vessels that sailed on storm-tossed high seas for months together. Between 1860 and 1911, thousands of Indian indentured labourers had entered Natal, their numbers reaching 1,521,84, with 1/3rd of them arriving in the last decade.5 At least 23% of this proportion also returned to India.6 Sent by recruiters in India, with the consent of the Natal and the British colonial governments, indentured Indians reached Natal on contract of five years with their employers. They became. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A virtual encounter between Buber and Gandhi articulates where they differ and where they touch common ground. They developed a transformative thinking that opened up the individual and collective ego to others. Only recently have scholars paid full attention to Buber’s theo-political thinking. Gandhi’s article “The Jews” made his way of thinking irrelevant for many Zionists over the decades. The relative neglect of Buber’s political thought and of Gandhi’s contribution to conflict resolution in Israel/Palestine explains why studies systematically comparing Buber’s politico-religious thinking with that of Gandhi are rare. The present article wants to fill this gap. Gandhi and Buber’s religiosity impacted upon spiritual, social, and political life. Their transformational perspectives could shed new light on how to deal with violent conflict situations.

Copyright of Revista de Paz y Conflictos is the property of Revista de Paz y Confilictos and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi or the Mahatma could be considered one of the most important and well-known personalities of the 20th century. During his life he was apostrophized as "the Apostle of Nonviolence"1 and even nowadays we look at him as a symbol of peace. Reading up on his more than 50.000-page spiritual heritage, we will find that one of the core concepts, central categories of his thinking is ahimsa, which could be translated as nonviolence, a concept in a very close relation with the expression of peace. Satyagraha, another important category of the Gandhian thinking and at the same time a method of acting is in fact the way which leads to a peaceful resistance, which - in the Gandhian perspective - could be a real alternative in order to obtain a given goal or cause by violence, aggression or bloodshed. In my paper I will try to summarize the importance and the relevance of the two letters written by the Mahatma and addressed to the leader of the National Socialist German Workers' Party, Adolf Hitler. The starting point will be the analysis of these two letters, the first one written in July 23, 1939 and the second one in December 24, 1940. Even though we know that the first letter never came to Hitler because of the simple fact that it was intercepted by the British authorities, and the second one wasn't answered by the addressee, I think that this two documents are the most important testimonies of his unquestionable faith in its theory and method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]