3 Review(s)

This book brings together eight seminal essays on Gandhi by the Rudolphs, probably the most well known names in South Asian studies in the US. Divided into two sections, the underlying theme of the volume is the continuing relevance and importance of Gandhi and his ideas. The book argues against equating Gandhism with traditionalism and seeks to establish Gandhi's credentials as a postmodern thinker. In this venture the book looks to strong counter culturalexplanations to articulate Gandhian alternate conceptions of modernity. The authors contend that Gandhi was a practitioner, an activist and a theorist. The volume also examines Gandhi's interpretation of the world and compares the inherent ideas in Nehru's high modernist vision and Gandhi's critiques of it toend with an examination of what development meant to each of them.