Gandhi’s Militant Nonviolence in the Light of Girard’s Mimetic Anthropology

Nuclear rivalry, as well as terrorism and the war against terror, exemplify the dangerous escalation of violence that is threatening our world. Gandhi’s militant nonviolence offers a possible alternative that avoids a complacent indifference toward injustice as well as the imitation of violence that...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal:	Wolfgang Palaver
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	nonviolence M.K. Gandhi R. Girard mimetic rivalry Sermon on the Mount spiral of violence Religions. Mythology. Rationalism BL1-2790
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/4cca75f18988415cb3eecff308f53500
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:4cca75f18988415cb3eecff308f53500
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:4cca75f18988415cb3eecff308f535002021-11-25T18:53:07ZGandhi’s Militant Nonviolence in the Light of Girard’s Mimetic Anthropology10.3390/rel121109882077-1444https://doaj.org/article/4cca75f18988415cb3eecff308f535002021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/12/11/988https://doaj.org/toc/2077-1444Nuclear rivalry, as well as terrorism and the war against terror, exemplify the dangerous escalation of violence that is threatening our world. Gandhi’s militant nonviolence offers a possible alternative that avoids a complacent indifference toward injustice as well as the imitation of violence that leads to its escalation. The French-American cultural anthropologist René Girard discovered mimetic rivalries as one of the main roots of human conflicts, and also highlighted the contagious nature of violence. This article shows that Gandhi shares these basic insights of Girard’s anthropology, which increases the plausibility of his plea for nonviolence. Reading Gandhi with Girard also complements Girard’s mimetic theory by offering an active practice of nonviolence as a response to violent threats, and by broadening the scope of its religious outreach. Gandhi’s reading of the Sermon on Mount not only renounces violence and retaliation like Girard but also underlines the need to actively break with evil. Both Gandhi and Girard also address the religious preconditions of nonviolent action by underlining the need to prefer godly over worldly pursuits, and to overcome the fear of death by God’s grace. This congruence shows that Girard’s anthropology is valid beyond its usual affinity with Judaism and Christianity.Wolfgang PalaverMDPI AGarticlenonviolenceM.K. GandhiR. Girardmimetic rivalrySermon on the Mountspiral of violenceReligions. Mythology. RationalismBL1-2790ENReligions, Vol 12, Iss 988, p 988 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	nonviolence M.K. Gandhi R. Girard mimetic rivalry Sermon on the Mount spiral of violence Religions. Mythology. Rationalism BL1-2790
spellingShingle	nonviolence M.K. Gandhi R. Girard mimetic rivalry Sermon on the Mount spiral of violence Religions. Mythology. Rationalism BL1-2790 Wolfgang Palaver Gandhi’s Militant Nonviolence in the Light of Girard’s Mimetic Anthropology
description	Nuclear rivalry, as well as terrorism and the war against terror, exemplify the dangerous escalation of violence that is threatening our world. Gandhi’s militant nonviolence offers a possible alternative that avoids a complacent indifference toward injustice as well as the imitation of violence that leads to its escalation. The French-American cultural anthropologist René Girard discovered mimetic rivalries as one of the main roots of human conflicts, and also highlighted the contagious nature of violence. This article shows that Gandhi shares these basic insights of Girard’s anthropology, which increases the plausibility of his plea for nonviolence. Reading Gandhi with Girard also complements Girard’s mimetic theory by offering an active practice of nonviolence as a response to violent threats, and by broadening the scope of its religious outreach. Gandhi’s reading of the Sermon on Mount not only renounces violence and retaliation like Girard but also underlines the need to actively break with evil. Both Gandhi and Girard also address the religious preconditions of nonviolent action by underlining the need to prefer godly over worldly pursuits, and to overcome the fear of death by God’s grace. This congruence shows that Girard’s anthropology is valid beyond its usual affinity with Judaism and Christianity.
format	article
author	Wolfgang Palaver
author_facet	Wolfgang Palaver
author_sort	Wolfgang Palaver
title	Gandhi’s Militant Nonviolence in the Light of Girard’s Mimetic Anthropology
title_short	Gandhi’s Militant Nonviolence in the Light of Girard’s Mimetic Anthropology
title_full	Gandhi’s Militant Nonviolence in the Light of Girard’s Mimetic Anthropology
title_fullStr	Gandhi’s Militant Nonviolence in the Light of Girard’s Mimetic Anthropology
title_full_unstemmed	Gandhi’s Militant Nonviolence in the Light of Girard’s Mimetic Anthropology
title_sort	gandhi’s militant nonviolence in the light of girard’s mimetic anthropology
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/4cca75f18988415cb3eecff308f53500
work_keys_str_mv	AT wolfgangpalaver gandhismilitantnonviolenceinthelightofgirardsmimeticanthropology
_version_	1718410584801673216

Gandhi’s Militant Nonviolence in the Light of Girard’s Mimetic Anthropology

Ejemplares similares