6 - Conflict and nonviolence

Summary

Gandhi is rightly known for his advocacy of nonviolence and love and for his dedication to the autonomy, dignity, and freedom of everyone, as well as his quest for individual and social harmony. Yet, as in so many areas of his life and writings, he seeks both harmony and conflict. This joint quest is not a paradox, and the two do not invariably stand as opposites. For Gandhi, harmony comes with neither passivity nor blindness in a world beset by the domination and humiliation of the strong over the weak. Gandhian harmony stems from the free choices of autonomous individuals in the many realms of their lives. Unfortunately, what ought to be freely chosen choices are often hampered or denied by the more powerful who would have others forego their own deepest aspirations and moral commitments, and Gandhi wants to change the situation of those who are dominated and humiliated. Although he, and the rest of us for the most part, would prefer to have change come through reasoned, calm dialogue with those we want to reach, those with superior power frequently decline to listen, much less change, because of rational argument.

To disturb this state of affairs, Gandhi challenges the current order of things, usually by introducing a crisis that leads to conflict, albeit nonviolently. He urges those who have been dominated to protest actively and to struggle for their autonomy. For Gandhi, harmony and autonomy are intertwined with eliminating injustice, and the conflicts that he pursues aim at all three. These Gandhian contests are self-limiting, eschewing violence, hatred, and a thirst for vengeance. Gandhi wants nonviolence to be much more than a political tactic but a way of life that rests on an understanding about the inherent worth and dignity of all life.