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Conflict Resolution and Gandhian Ethics Conflict Resolution and Gandhian Ethics Thomas Weber First Published: 1991 Published by N. Vasudevan for THE GANDHI PEACE FOUNDATION 221/223 Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg New Delhi 110 002 Conflict Resolution and Gandhian Ethics In the long run men hit only what they aim at. Therefore, though they should fail immediately they had better aim at something high. H. D. Thoreau The dignity of human life derives from mankind's continual perseverance in projects for which the universe affords no foothold or encouragement. A. Maclntyre www.mkgandhi.org Page 1 Conflict Resolution and Gandhian Ethics ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thanks are due to the La Trobe University Research Committee whose financial assistance in the form of a La Trobe University Scholarship helped to see me financially through the writing of the thesis on which this book is based, when I reverted to being a full time student. My appreciation goes to Linda Wilkinson and other friends who critically read early draft chapters, helped with proof reading, and to those on whose kitchen tables various parts of the original thesis were penned. Thanks are due to my supervisor, Dr Martin Chanock, and the markers, Professors A. B. Blackshield and M. Charlesworth, whose critical comments made the original document better than it would otherwise have been and this document better than the thesis was. In the latter regard a further special debt is owed to Professor C. N. Patel of Ahmedabad who brought to my notice more errors than I would care to admit to. Of course the views expressed, and the errors that remain, are entirely my own. Finally thanks are also due to my ever friendly and efficient typist, Gay Dunn, for her excellent work. www.mkgandhi.org Page 2 Conflict Resolution and Gandhian Ethics CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1. THE RESOLUTION OF CONFLICT Introduction Conflict and its Causes Ways of Dealing with Conflict (a) Coercion (b) "Lumping it" and avoidance (c) Mediation, arbitration, adjudication (d) Negotiation Destructive vs. Productive Conflict (a) Behaviour promoting destructive conflict (b) Behaviour facilitating productive conflict Conclusion 2. SATYAGRAHA: THE GANDHIAN APPROACH TO CONFLICT RESOLUTION Introduction Types of Nonviolent Action The Dialectics of Satyagraha The Principles of Satyagraha The Process of Satyagraha Concepts Fundamental to Satyagraha (a) Faith in human goodness (b) Truth (c) Nonviolence (d) Creative self-suffering (e) Means and ends (f) Rejection of coercion (g) Fearlessness 3. INTERPERSONAL CONFLICT www.mkgandhi.org Page 3 Conflict Resolution and Gandhian Ethics 4. LEGAL AND INDUSTRIAL CONFLICTS A. The Adversary System of Legal Dispute Settlement Alternatives to Court in Civil Cases The Satyagrahi as Defendant B. Industrial Conflict 5. CONFLICT RESOLUTION AND GANDHIAN ETHICS Introduction Individual Civil Disobedience Group Social Conflict and the Individual Conclusion 6. INTERNATIONAL CONFLICT Introduction War Without Violence: The Nation War Without Violence: The Individual Conclusion 7. THE POSITION OF THE INDIVIDUAL 8. AGGRESSION AND THE PROBLEM OF THE WILL Introduction Aggression The Problem of the Will Conclusion CONCLUSION: A GANDHIAN ETHICS Conflicts: Why Satyagraha? Gandhian Ethics Gandhi's Ontology Satyagraha and Mere Mortals NOTES BIBLIOGRAPHY www.mkgandhi.org Page 4 Conflict Resolution and Gandhian Ethics INTRODUCTION A recent review of the latest offering in Gandhiana described the Gandhi book business as a veritable "cottage industry". Although throughout his life the Mahatma encouraged the foundation of cottage industries, this is one of which he would most certainly not have approved. The literature on Gandhi, aside from original works by him or compilations of his works (the Collected Works, for example, has recently grown to ninety weighty volumes), is so vast that it fills several large bibliographies. It appears that anyone who had any dealings at all with Gandhi felt compelled to record the incidents—the biographies alone number some 250 volumes. A great many of these books and articles (Gandhi Marg, a journal of Gandhian thought, published quarterly since 1957, then monthly from 1979 to 1989, and now again quarterly, being the chief concentrated source) cover and re-cover already familiar ground, are occasionally sycophantic or offer shallow analyses of Gandhi's thought or techniques, or, at times, even miss the real point in Gandhi's message. Gandhi himself was sceptical about the value of such writings, even about his own, maintaining that his writings should be destroyed after his death. It is his active achievement that would, he believed, live after him and his example, as it touched those around him, that would effect a change in society rather than his words: "My life," he claimed, "is my message."2 Although he wrote forewords to over forty books, most of them dealing with various aspects of his philosophy, in an interview with Joan Bondurant he went as far as to say that "satyagraha is not a subject for research—you must experience it, use it, live by it."3 The Mahatma, however, did add: "I flatter myself with the belief that some of my writings will survive me and will be of service to the causes for which they have been written."4 Gandhi is now part of history and his words belong to humanity. These words, it is to be hoped, can instil in those who have not yet been touched by his example, or by the example of those following Him, a sense of the idea of Gandhi's philosophy of conflict, a realisation of the possibility that inter-personal and other relations can be conducted in a more effective manner, and a desire to experiment with, experience and live by a code of dignified idealism. The Gandhian technique of conflict resolution is known by its Gujarati name of satyagraha which has variously been interpreted as "passive resistance", "nonviolent resistance", "nonviolent direct action", and even as "militant nonviolence". www.mkgandhi.org Page 5 Conflict Resolution and Gandhian Ethics "Satyagraha", Gandhi explained, is "literally holding on to Truth and it means, therefore, Truth-force. Truth is soul or spirit. It is therefore known as soul- force." The word was coined out of felt necessity. The technique of nonviolent struggle that Gandhi had evolved in South Africa for the conduct of the Indian indentured labourers' disputes with the government was originally described by the English phrase "passive resistance". Gandhi, however, found that the term "was too narrowly constructed, that it was supposed to be a weapon of the weak, that it could be characterised by hatred, and that it could finally manifest itself as violence."6 He decided that a new word had to be coined for the struggle: But I could not for the life of me find out a new name, and therefore offered a nominal prize through Indian Opinion to the reader who made the best suggestion on the subject. As a result Maganlal Gandhi coined the word Sadagraha (sat: truth; Agraha: firmness) and won the prize. But in order to make it clearer I changed the word to Satyagraha.7 Satyagraha means, in effect, the discovery of truth and working steadily towards it, thus converting the opponent into a friend. In other words, satyagraha is not used against anybody but is done with somebody. "It is based on the idea that the moral appeal to the heart or conscience is . more effective than an appeal based on threat or bodily pain or violence."8 Over the years an enormous body of literature concerning satyagraha has developed. Generally the writings concern themselves with an examination of the various campaigns led either by Gandhi or his disciples, and, in the main, these writings clearly identify the main elements of the technique as truth (satya), nonviolence (ahimsa) and the relationship of ends to means. Most have realised that the use of the techniques of satyagraha as a policy, that is, a method to be brought into play in a given situation where it is considered effective in securing a victory, is contrary to its primary teaching. It must be a creed, a way of life, to be truly effective. Gandhi has made the point: "Somehow or other the wrong belief has taken possession of us that ahimsa is pre-eminently a weapon for individuals and its use therefore should be limited to that sphere. In fact that is not the case. Ahimsa is definitely an attitude of society." He added: "It is blasphemy to say that nonviolence can only be practised by individuals and never by nations which are composed of individuals."10 Martin Luther King was enlightened by the realisation that satyagraha could in fact be www.mkgandhi.org Page 6 Conflict Resolution and Gandhian Ethics used in conflicts larger than interpersonal conflicts.1 Most of the literature on Gandhi's nonviolence is concerned with demonstrating just this point. The refutation of the premise that satyagraha is limited in effectiveness to use by individuals has produced voluminous literature—to the exclusion of analyses of the relationship of satyagraha to the individual. The forest has been carefully studied, the trees overlooked. Gandhian thought has been spelled out and analysed by many. The best books on satyagraha have done an admirable job explaining its precepts, and in part they all do touch on the relevance of these for individuals. None of them, however, analyse satyagraha primarily from the viewpoint of the individual. Dhawan, Shridharani, and Naess examine satyagraha from the perspective of the political scientist, their primary concern being social conflict. Some of them, for example, Iyer, include the individual to the point of concentrating on the central philosophy of Gandhi's political action as a variant of worship, while others, such as Gregg, emphasise the need for realising the importance of human unity in order to solve conflicts effectively. Gregg further looks at the applicability of satyagraha to a Western setting, while Bondurant aims to demonstrate that it is valid in a secularised form.
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