Positive thinking

Whitney Sanford, University of Florida Almost a century ago, Mohandas K. Gandhi – commonly known by the honorific Mahatma, the great-souled one – emphasized nonviolent resistance in his campaign for Indian independence. Today, as my research shows , Gandhi has become an iconic figure for people seeking social change, including communities across the United States. Explaining nonviolence For Gandhi, nonviolence was not simply the absence of physical violence . Self-rule and radical democracy in which everyone participates in the governance process were also part of Gandhi’s idea of nonviolence. He believed that self-rule should extend to all people, rich and poor, male and female, and at all levels of society. To him, authority over others was a form of violence. To achieve that vision, he encouraged participation of women and the lower castes in economic and political matters. These ideas about violence and authority had circulated in the U.S. in the 19th ce...