| ID | 113561 |
| Title Proper | Another realism |
| Other Title Information | the politics of Gandhian nonviolence |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Mantena, Karuna |
| Publication | 2012. |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | Although Gandhi is often taken to be an exemplary moral idealist in politics, this article seeks to demonstrate that Gandhian nonviolence is premised on a form of political realism, specifically a contextual, consequentialist, and moral-psychological analysis of a political world understood to be marked by inherent tendencies toward conflict, domination, and violence. By treating nonviolence as the essential analog and correlative response to a realist theory of politics, one can better register the novelty of satyagraha (nonviolent action) as a practical orientation in politics as opposed to a moral proposition, ethical stance, or standard of judgment. The singularity of satyagraha lays in its self-limiting character as a form of political action that seeks to constrain the negative consequences of politics while working toward progressive social and political reform. Gandhian nonviolence thereby points toward a transformational realism that need not begin and end in conservatism, moral equivocation, or pure instrumentalism. |
| `In' analytical Note | American Political Science Review Vol. 106, No.2; May 2012: p.455-470 |
| Journal Source | American Political Science Review Vol. 106, No.2; May 2012: p.455-470 |
| Key Words | Transformational Realism ; Gandhian Nonviolence ; Pure Instrumentalism ; Political Realism |