Cultural Dynamics

http://cdy.sagepub.com Book Review: Gandhi's Vision and Values: The Moral Quest for Change in Indian Agriculture
Romesh Diwan Cultural Dynamics 1999; 11; 366 DOI: 10.1177/092137409901100303 The online version of this article can be found at: http://cdy.sagepub.com

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VIVEK PINTO

Gandhis Vision and Values: The Moral Quest for Change in Indian Agriculture. New Delhi: Sage, 1998, 176 pp.

Sustainability Needs Gandhian Values The world today is going through a series of serious problems. NATO is bombing Serbian Yugoslavia to destruction while Gorbachev is worried that it may lead to a hot world war. Globalization is proceeding uninhibited creating colonial environments in a number of large countries (Diwan, 1995). Global inequality is growing. In 1998, the worlds 225 billionaires have a combined wealth of $1 trillion, which equals the combined annual income of the worlds 2.5 billion poorest people (UNDP, 1998). Gore (1992) makes a strong case that the western civilization and Earths ecological system are on a collision course because of the strategic threats caused by (i) population explosion, (ii) scientic and technological revolution, and (iii) ideologyour way of thinking; Ellul (1965) calls it propaganda. The ideology promotes consumerist culture that glories the market: The market is both the natural condition of mankind and the unique blessing of the American Eden . . . buying and selling are holy acts, the source of human meaning (Frank and Weiland, 1997: 2601). The major source of this problem lies in greed and overconsumption promoted by market ideology (Diwan, 1998a, 1998c). Yet, overconsumption is accelerating unabated. There are clear signals that the world economy is in stress. Millions are suffering. Globalization is not working. With the nancial meltdown in the Asian economies, one observes the rise and fall of economic orthodoxy (Diwan, 1998c). There is therefore a search for alternatives that look beyond narrow economics into values. It is now recognized that American Indians are sages and not savages. Gore puts it succinctly: The more deeply I search for the roots of the global environmental crisis, the more I am convinced that it is an outer manifestation of an inner crisis that is, for want of a better word, spiritual (Gore, 1992: 12). There is an increasing space for alternatives, especially for Gandhian vision and values. Thats what makes Vivek Pintos book, under review, both important and highly relevant. The basic question this book asks is: can the ethical and moral principles with which Gandhi experimented initially in Hind Swaraj and then in his agricultural communities, serve as the basis for reconstructing a harmonious, poverty-free, non-violent and self-reliant society? The answer is, of course, yes and consistent with earlier analyses (Diwan, 1985). In Viveks own words, It is my contention . . . as it was Gandhis, that the malaise affecting the Indian nation is primarily moral and only secondarily economic and political (p. 67).

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Based on Viveks PhD thesis, it is a short book divided in four chapters. Gandhi described his struggle as a war between truth and falsehood. This is derived from Gandhis religious heritage and two personal experiences: (i) June 1893, when he was physically ejected from a railway compartment at Maritzburg railway station, so well depicted in the lm Gandhi, and (ii) during mid-1906 when he volunteered in the militarys ambulance service for both Europeans and Zulus during the Zulu war, where he witnessed rst hand British atrocities through ferocious use of machine guns, oggings and hanging of Zulus. This made him question intensely the notion of Britain as a nation of civilized people. He realized that the truth is on the side of the Indian community. Hence it must win. This idea is discussed at length in Chapter 1, entitled, Hind Swaraj: Context and Text for Gandhis Religiously Shaped Views on Agricultural Development. In the Gandhian view, civilization is the creation of institutions and structures that not only satisfy basic material needs, but also, and more importantly, where individuals are lled with a sense of their spiritual and social obligation to one another and society. The civilization success lies in this conduct based on character, ethics and morality derived from religious values. Gandhi had, therefore, a great faith in the common man, especially a peasant. A peasant earns his bread honestly. He has an ordinary knowledge of the world. He knows fairly well how he should behave towards his parents, his wife, his children and his fellow villagers. He understands and observes the rules of morality. The self-reliance on their own hands and feet builds their character and makes them true votaries of swaraj, practitioners of Ahimsa, and fearless thereby inculcating in them the conduct most suitable for satyagrahis. Therefore, the village is the epicentre of civilization. Chapter 2, Relation of Gandhis Religious Perspectives to Agricultural Issues: An Exploration of Theory and Practice, 19091948, describes Gandhis practices in four ashrams: (i) Phoenix settlement, a farm near Durban (Natal 190414); discussed well in Indian Opinion (190314); (ii) Tolstoy Farm made up of 1,100 acres near Johannesburg (30 May 1910January 1913); (iii) Satyagrah (Sabarmati) Ashram, Kochrab to Ahmadabad (20 May 19151933); and (iv) Sevagram Ashram, Segaon, Wardha (April 1936). The ashrams were run on high moral principles: brahmacharya, truthfulness, manual labour, duty to strengthen character, fearlessness in opposing injustice and a vow of poverty. From these principles followed the daily conduct of simple life, seeking right education, vegetarianism, maintaining good health, self-sufciency, belief in nature cure and industry. The objective of the ashrams was not only to develop persons of character but also viable communities. The goals of the community were communal harmony, simple sustenance, respect for the dignity of labour, values that enhance spiritual well-being, pursuit of sociopolitical aims. The relevant concepts then are: duty, equality, brotherhood, service, simplicity, manual labour, Ahimsa, frugality and no private ownership of land. For

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analytical purposes, it uses six concepts of Gandhian economics: swadeshi, aprigraha, bread labour, trusteeship, non-exploitation and equality (developed in Diwan and Lutz, 1985). I have summarized Gandhian economic policy (Diwan, 1999a). Chapter 3 is A Review of Planned Agricultural Development in India and a Gandhian Critique, 19511974. It describes historically Nehrus Macaulayite ideas that dened agricultural policies. The discussion is in terms of plan investments, price policy and sectoral terms of trade, bias in agricultural planning, green revolution and land reforms. These are looked at from the objectives of promoting equity and social justice. It asks such questions as: to whom did the proportional benets of this strategy accrue, specically, which strata of farmers, regions and crops? What was the price of modernization? Were prices used for manipulative purposes? Did it polarize the countryside? Like many other scholars before, the author concludes: there does exist a bias not only in investments, but also with respect to price policies, terms of trade, and the role of the state. Agricultural development has been geared to the big farmers with urban ties, irrigated land and a marketable surplus (p. 100). The analysis is taken forward by subjecting it to analysis through the lenses of the concepts of Gandhian economics outlined in the earlier chapter. The crisis that affects Indian agriculture is only symptomatic of the economy and politics of agriculture, at its heart the predicament is moral. The path proposed for recreating Indian agriculture is formulated on Gandhis moral and ethical principles. The last chapter discusses, Development with a Human Face: Gandhis Constructive Program and Current Alternatives. It summarizes Gandhis constructive programme whose key elements were to establish communal unity, remove untouchability, promote adult education, develop nonviolent unions and abolish social evils. These programmes are essential to remove poverty in the world today (Diwan, 1999b). Sarva Seva Sanghs provide the operational and organizational structure for a constructive programme. Contrary to public perception, many principles of constructive programmes have taken root in India and Vivek Pinto provides examples of three contemporary institutions: Sewa (Self-employed Womens Association), Ahmadabad, Gujarat; Baburao Hazares experiment at Ralegaon Siddhi, Ahmadnagar district, Maharashtra; and the Self-imposed Land-use Plan in Seed, near Udaipur, Rajasthan. There are other such activities currently taking place in India (Diwan, 1997). The conclusion follows: development is possible only if moral values are directly integrated. The market economic system denes wealth in material terms only. Thereby it distorts the production process, destroying family and community. Scholars now contend that in addition to material wealth there is also natural wealth; estimates suggest that natural wealth is much larger than material wealth. There is also wealth of the third kind; namely, relational wealth (Diwan, 1999c). A proper test of every policy is not

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prot, employment or growth, but how it strengthens family and community, individual character and sensitivity (Hinduism Today, 1998). There is growing questioning of capitalist and corporate values. Relational wealth adds to natural wealth and requires conduct based on ethical and moral values. Even in the US, the land of the brave and corporate sacred cows, corporate welfare is being documented (Time, 1998). Inheritors of the American Indian, Chinese, Hindu, Mayan and other earlier civilizations are asserting the necessity and importance of the values of their heritage for sustainability. Our global economy and society cannot be sustained without Gandhis vision and values. Vivek Pintos book is thus very timely. No doubt, one can disagree with certain arguments and statements, such as confusing leftist ideas with Gandhian wisdom. Overall, however, this book brings commonsense and wisdom to everyday problems in agriculture. Like Dennis Daltons book on Gandhi, it is full of quotes from original sources and provides a wealth of information. Unlike that book, where Gandhian ideas of Hind swaraj are neither understood or appreciated (Diwan, 1996), Vivek Pinto shows a clear grasp of these ideas and concepts. His treatment of Swadeshi is a good one, and all the more important in view of its essentiality for our current malaise (Diwan, 1998b). It is a highly readable book and I have great pleasure in recommending it to the reader.

REFERENCES
Diwan, Romesh (1985) On the Relevance of Gandhian Economics, Indian Economics Association Conference Volume (Dec.): 1333. Diwan, Romesh (1995) Globalisation: Myth and Reality, The Tribune (Chandigarh, India, 27 Sept.). Diwan, Romesh (1996) Review of Mahatma Gandhi: Nonviolent Power in Action by Dennis Dalton, Asian Thought and Society, an International Review 20(612) (Jan.Sept.): 2204. Diwan, Romesh (1997) Gandhian Economics: Enoughness as Real Wealth, in Trent Schroyer (ed.) A World that Works: Building Blocks for a Just and Sustainable Society, pp. 8691. New York: The Bootstrap Press, A Toes Book. Diwan, Romesh (1998a) Gandhi, the US, and the World: A Bridge to the Twenty First Century, Gandhi Marg 20(3) (Oct.Dec.): 291312. Diwan, Romesh (1998b) Essentiality of Swadeshi, The Hindustan Times (10 Feb.; also in its electronic edn). Diwan, Romesh (1998c) Rise and Fall of Economic Orthodoxy: Swadeshi a New Alternative, India Post 220(5) (16 Oct.): 723. Diwan, Romesh (1999a) Gandhian Political Economy, in Philip OHara (ed.) Encylopedia of Political Economy, pp. 3878. London: Routledge. Diwan, Romesh (1999b) Mahatma Gandhi, Amartya Sen and Poverty, Gandhi Marg 20(4) (Jan.March): 42144.

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Diwan, Romesh (1999c) Relational Wealth and the Quality of Life, Journal of Socio-Economics (forthcoming). Diwan, Romesh and Mark Lutz, eds (1985) Essays in Gandhian Economics. New Delhi: Gandhi Peace Foundation. Ellul, Jaques (1965) Propaganda: The Formation of Mens Attitudes. New York: Alfred A. Knopf; Vintage Books edn, 1973. Frank, Thomas and Matt Weiland (1997) Commodify your Dissent. New York: W.W. Norton. Gore, Al (1992) Earth In The Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit. New York: Plume edn. Hinduism Today (1998) Ethical Economics, (March): 367. Time (1998) What Corporate Welfare Costs You (9 Nov.). UN Development Program (1998) Human Development Report. New York: United Nations.

ROMESH DIWAN Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY

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