On political developments in India, 1857-1964; comprises extracts from newspaper articles, speeches, letters, biographies, books, etc.

The Documents Included In These Volumes Relate To Political Thought In India From 1857 To 1964, From The Assumption Of Direct Rule Over India By The British Crown To The Death Of Jawaharlal Nehru.

Intended as a text for the undergraduate and postgraduate students of Political Science, this compact book brings to fore the political thought of various Indian thinkers over the decades. The book begins with a detailed discussion on the political thought of Manu, the lawgiver, whose classification of the different castes and their duties is highlighted. Then it goes on to give a comprehensive account of such thinkers as Kautilya, the author of Arthashastra, who talks about the four stages of life and the duties of the King; Raja Ram Mohan Roy, the religious reformer; Swami Dayananda Saraswati, the Hindu reformer and advocate of the Vedas, who criticized untouchability and discrimination of women and who set up the Arya Samaj. Besides, the book deals in detail with such thinkers as Swami Vivekananda, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, and Shri Aurobindo. Further, the book analyzes the political thought of the great Indian leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation, whose ideas of Satyagraha, Ahimsa (Non-Violence), Swadeshi, and Swaraj are too well known and who galvanized a whole nation in achieving Independence; Jawaharlal Nehru, the Architect of Modern India and the first Indian Prime Minister whose ideas on socialism, democracy, planning and foreign policy have guided the nation; the indefatigable JP (Jaya Prakash Narayan), the pioneer of socialist movement; and Bhimrao Ambedkar, the Architect of the Indian Constitution — the great social reformer who championed the cause of the scheduled castes, the underprivileged and the marginalized sections of the society. Finally, the book makes an analysis of ideas of other thinkers, namely, Sir Sayyed Ahmed Khan, a great advocate of communal harmony, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, an advocate of theocracy; Lala Lajpat Rai, the Lion of Punjab and the propounder of Swaraj; Ram Manohar Lohia, a powerful exponent of socialism; Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, an opponent of absolute non-violence, and Mahatma Jyotirao Govindrao Phule, a great social reformer. This text, which compresses the political thought of the great Indian thinkers and leaders, will benefit not only undergraduate and postgraduate students but also aspirants of civil services and any one who wishes to delve deeper into the subject.

How do we arrange our collective affairs? Why do we live together in the ways we do? How ought we to live together? All humans think about the world they live in, its history and future, and the ideals by which they want to live in relation to others. How we think today decisively influences the world of tomorrow. This encyclopedia attempts to bring greater clarity and understanding to political debate. Drawing together a team of international scholars, the Encyclopedia of Political Theory examines the ideas of the major political theorists from before Plato to our own times; the main schools of political thought; the concepts and issues that have captured the imagination and attention of political theorists; and some of the main institutions and practices inspired by political thought. With more than 450 entries, these three volumes provide a quick, one-stop source to key topics in the field. Key Features Examines the global landscape of all the key theories and the theorists behind them Includes specific lists of entries that deal with constitutional thought and democratic thought Refers to distinctive norms and features of various governments, legal systems, and societies Devotes large parts to the history of ideas about government, ethics, and society Provides a chronology of political theory to help readers see how a given theorist, school, or issue fits into the bigger historical picture Key Themes Ancient Thought Applied Ethics Biographies Comparative Theory Constitutional Thought Critical Theory Democratic Thought Early Modern Thought International Theory Justice Liberal Theory Medieval Thought Modern Theory Power and Authority Religious Thought Self and Community This work is designed to serve as a reference source for anyone interested in the roots of contemporary political theory. It will be a welcome addition to any academic or public library.

Ambedkar's Political Philosophy is a critical exploration of the political theory of B R Ambedkar, the Indian thinker and leader who championed the cause of the socially oppressed. Rodrigues examines the key concepts that Ambedkar used to envision a new framework of public life that would overcome the problems of marginality, degradation, and domination. This framework is based upon an idea of the human endowed with the attributes of reasoning, moral capacity, self-respect, and a unique dignity that collectively entitles human beings to a distinct consideration as moral equals despite other differences. Ambedkar deployed the idea of the human not merely to contend against the social institutions of caste, untouchability, and other forms of marginalities but also to interrogate texts, traditions, and modes of social dominance. In a democracy, the representational, constitutional, and institutional architecture of state power is geared to sustain and reinforce itself. Such an architecture, however, may prove feeble unless shored up by the moral foundations of societies and backed by religious sanction. In Ambedkar's view, only Buddhism, as a religion, fits the bill. In this book, the author engages with Ambedkar's primary works in both English and Marathi and the debates around them, and situates his ideas in the South Asian context, making it a comprehensive and insightful commentary on his political philosophy and its relevance for contemporary society.

Given the rise of globalization and coinciding increase in cultural clashes among diverse nations, it has become eminently clear to scholars of political thought that there exists a critical gap in the knowledge of non-Western philosophies and how Western thought has been influenced by them. This gap has led to a severely diminished capacity of both state and nonstate actors to communicate effectively on a global scale. The political theorists, area scholars, and intellectual historians gathered here by Takashi Shogimen and Cary J. Nederman examine the exchange of political ideas between Europe and Asia from the Middle Ages to the early twentieth century. They establish the need for comparative political thought, showing that in order to fully grasp the origins and achievements of the West, historians of political thought must incorporate Asian political discourse and ideas into their understanding. By engaging in comparative studies, this volume proves the necessity of a cross-disciplinary approach in guiding the study of the global history of political thought.

The first study of a neglected tradition of participatory democracy in modern India.

Notwithstanding his contributions to religion, nonviolence, civil rights, and civil disobedience, among other areas, Gandhi's most significant contribution is that as a political philosopher. While he is not often treated as such, Gandhi was, as Anthony J. Parel argues, a political philosopher sui generis, both in his philosophical method of constant self-criticism and his framework of philosophical analysis. Gandhi wrote daily on politics, but he did so as an activist; political philosophy was to him not just a way of understanding truths of political phenomena but was directly related to understanding those truths in action. If realized in action these truths would give rise to new political institutions, which in turn would create a corresponding peaceful political and social order. Parel dubs this order Pax Gandhiana. The main contention of Pax Gandhiana is that peace cannot be achieved by politics alone. Peace requires the confluence of the canonical ends of life: politics and economics (artha), ethics (dharma), forms of pleasure (kama), and the pursuit of spiritual transcendence (moksha). Modern political philosophy isolates politics from the other three ends, but Gandhi's originality, according to Parel, lies in the way that he brings all four together. In fact Gandhi's political philosophy is relevant not only to India but also to the rest of the world: it is a new type of sovereignty that harmonizes the interest of individual states with the community of states. Arguing against scholars who dispute a theoretical unity in Gandhi's writings, Parel suggests that Gandhi is the preeminent non-western political philosopher, and in this book he seeks to identify the conceptual framework of Gandhi's political philosophy, the Pax Gandhiana.