The Political Power of Non-Violent Resistance : the Gandhian Technique

• Author: Jerry M. Tinker
• Date: 01 December 1971
• DOI: 10.1177/106591297102400412
• Published date: 01 December 1971
• Subject Matter: Articles

775

THE

POLITICAL

POWER

OF

NON-VIOLENT

RESISTANCE :

THE

GANDHIAN

TECHNIQUE

JERRY

M.

TINKER

Staff

Consultant

to

the

Senate

Subcommittee

on

Refugees

Washington,

D.C.

N

THIS

the

centenary

year

of

the

birth

of

Mohandas

K.

Gandhi,

there

has

~

been

no

shortage

of

articles,

speeches

and

seminars

convoked

to

eulogize

his

memory.

Predictably,

it

has,

in

turn,

spawned

an

endless

stream

of

highly

romanticized

accounts

of

his

deeds

and

no

small

amount

of

stuffy

pontifications

on

his

&dquo;saintly

pacifism&dquo;

or

&dquo;spiritualistic

politics.&dquo;

As

always,

Gandhi’s

&dquo;saintly&dquo;

aura

-

his

mahatmahood -

has

diverted

attention

from

a

more

serious

consid-

eration

of

his

more

earthly

political

contributions.’

Perhaps

this

was

inevitable.

For

when

one

views

Gandhi’s

own

personal

philosophy

and

behavior

it is

indeed

difficult

to

separate

the

moral

from

the

politi-

cal.

Yet,

when

one

analyzes

the

actual

operation

of

his

political

technique,

or

observes

his

political

actions,

the

distinctions

are

somewhat

clearer.

Certainly

if

there

is

any

relevance

in

Gandhi’s

thought

for

our

revolutionary

times,

surely

it

must

be

in

his

contributions

to

political

action

and

not

to

saintly

behavior.

It

is

the

thesis

of

this

brief

essay

that,

in

fact,

Gandhi’s

most

enduring

legacy

-

his

true

relevance

-

remains

in

his

creation

and

implementation

of

a

profoundly

revolutionary,

highly

political,

yet

deeply

idealistic

political

tool:

non-violent

resistance.

If

there

is

a

single

thread

that

runs

through

Gandhi’s

entire

life

it

is

undoubtedly

his

search

for

and

perfection

of

a

tool

of

political

action

that

would

yet

remain

faithful

to

his

philosophical

commitment

to

non-violence.

In

the

process

he

conceived

and

wielded

what

can

only

be

called

a

political

weapon

that

was,

and

is,

as

much

insurgent

in

character

as

guerrilla

terrorism.

Characteristically,

Gandhi

reached

back

into

India’s

religious

heritage

to

find

a

term

to

describe

(and

perhaps

legitimatize)

his

tool;

he

called

it

satyagraha,

or

&dquo;truth

force.&dquo;

The

purpose

here

is

to

review

more

precisely

the

political

dynamics

of

Gandhian

non-violent

resis-

tance

-

its

operation

and

functioning

in

the

political

system

-

and

to

see

how

it

was

used

by

Gandhi

as

a

political

weapon.

In

the

process

we

can

perhaps

better

understand

his

insights

into

the

techniques

of

political

change

and,

hence,

his

con-

tinued

relevance

today.2

2

I

As

many

writers

have

noted,

the

basic

thesis,

or

strategy,

upon

which

Gandhi’s

satyagraha

and

all

non-violent

resistance

rests

is

that

all

structures

of

power -

government

and

social

organizations

-

always

depend

upon

the

voluntary

co-

1

See

the

excellent

essay

by

Susanne

Hoeber

Rudolph,

"The

New

Courage:

An

Essay

on

Gandhi’s

Psychology,"

World

Politics,

16

(October

1963), 98-117.

2

This

article

will

not

tread

the

path

covered

already

so

thoroughly

by

Joan

V.

Bondurant

in

Conquest

of

Violence

(Princeton:

Princeton

University

Press,

1958) ;

Dr.

Bondurant’s

book

is

basic

to

any

study

of

Gandhi’s

contributions

to

political

theory

and

action.

In

another

realm,

but

of

equal

significance,

is

Erik

H.

Erikson’s

Gandhi’s

Truth:

On

the

Origins

of

Militant

Nonviolence

(New

York:

Norton,

1969).