Gandhian Economics
M. Gandhi the best leader, politician and manager that India has ever seen. His unique principals redefined the power of society. He considered ethics and economics are inseparable. His thoughts about political and socio-economic structure of society are indispensible to study. The ideas were later developed and detailed by John Rawls in Theory of Justice, which are retrospective of Gandhi’s thoughts.
To understand where Gandhian Economics stand:
“Gandhian economics” is a term coined by late J.C. Kumarappan, who was an Indian economist. He gives the examples on types of economy in his book ‘Gandhian Economic Thought’ which is reproduced in table manner below: Economic scene | Agent example in nature (Fiction) | Economic analysis | Economic example | Parasite | Lion | Consumption by invading resources. | Great Britain’s exploitation in India. | Predatory | Monkey | Consumption on readily available resources. | Economic subjugation – Financial penetration of US. | Enterprise | Bird | Bird’s nest as private property. | Self-sufficient agricultural economy. | Gregarious | Honey bee | Building of society. Production is greater than consumption and distribution of production. | Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany. | Service | Mother | Production of wealth and distribution for social cause. | Gandhian economics. |
British India was wealth-drained. The khadi movement was started in order to increase self-sufficiency of Indian households. Its prime motive was to boycott British goods and promote Swadeshi. He had similar opinion on industries, which replace labour. He was in favour of labour intensive technologies.
The three most important advocacies with respect to political, economic and social reform were trusteeship, political decentralization and Sarvodaya.
We now see that these three advocacies are among the most essential tools for economic growth with development. Gandhi’s idea of Gram Swaraj:“My idea of village swaraj is that it is a complete
To understand where Gandhian Economics stand:
“Gandhian economics” is a term coined by late J.C. Kumarappan, who was an Indian economist. He gives the examples on types of economy in his book ‘Gandhian Economic Thought’ which is reproduced in table manner below: Economic scene | Agent example in nature (Fiction) | Economic analysis | Economic example | Parasite | Lion | Consumption by invading resources. | Great Britain’s exploitation in India. | Predatory | Monkey | Consumption on readily available resources. | Economic subjugation – Financial penetration of US. | Enterprise | Bird | Bird’s nest as private property. | Self-sufficient agricultural economy. | Gregarious | Honey bee | Building of society. Production is greater than consumption and distribution of production. | Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany. | Service | Mother | Production of wealth and distribution for social cause. | Gandhian economics. |
British India was wealth-drained. The khadi movement was started in order to increase self-sufficiency of Indian households. Its prime motive was to boycott British goods and promote Swadeshi. He had similar opinion on industries, which replace labour. He was in favour of labour intensive technologies.
The three most important advocacies with respect to political, economic and social reform were trusteeship, political decentralization and Sarvodaya.
We now see that these three advocacies are among the most essential tools for economic growth with development. Gandhi’s idea of Gram Swaraj:“My idea of village swaraj is that it is a complete