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Gandhi : Struggling For Autonomy

By Ronald J. Terchek

About The Author :

Ronald J. Terchek is Professor of Government and politics at the University of Marryland, College Park, and the author of "Republican Paradoxes and

Liberal Anxieties: Retrieving Neglected Fragments of Political Theory" (Rowman & Littlefield 1996).

BOOK REVIEW

Gandhi: Struggling for Autonomy is, first and foremost, a work in political theory. An important and original contribution to the study of one of the twentieth century.

By Swaraj Gandhi meant self-governance, where people act according to a principled position that they have freely chosen. His concept of autonomy is linked to his theories of duty, ahimsa (non-violence), & conscience which distinguish his views on autonomy from conventional ones. Gandhian autonomy is expressed in our freely chosen moral projects that make each of us a unique person and move us from our concerns about survival and pleasures to a moral and spiritual self.

In 21 pages introduction, the author eminently succeeds in making Gandhi relevant for the next century. He shows how Gandhi engages in some of the important details of the century. He enlist Gandhi in a conversation designed to protect and enhance the autonomy and equality of persons in a world that is often hostile to such goods. In drawing parallels and contrasts between Gandhi and others the author hopes to add dimensionality to a writer who challenges some of our most basic modes of thinking and whose thinking often begins at a radically different place than does conventional modern thought. He also hopes to convey Gandhi's vision of a world that is moved by love & is hospitable to autonomy.

This work is designed and developed to prove a most useful and authoritative reference work to the scholars, academics and political thinkers in the field.

Publisher:

1) India : Vistaar Publications, 32 M-Block Market, Greater Kailash-I,

                New Delhi-110048 Rs.325/-pages:268.

2) USA:  Rowman and Littlefield Publisher, Inc., 4720 Boston Way, London,

              Marryland 20706, U.S.A

              ISBN:81-7036-952-5 (India-Pb)

CONTENTS

1) Gandhian Autonomy

2) Reclaiming a Tradition and making It Your Own

3) Gandhi's critique of Modernity

4) Defending Civil Society by Questioning Modernization

5) Gandhi's Politics

6) Challenging Violence and Denying Perfectionism

7) Gandhi and the Twenty-First Century