The present work enquires into a largely unexplored area in social sciences, namely, the interaction of politics, symbols and culture, in both theoretical and applied perspectives. Making subtle analytical distinctions between the symbolist and the symbolic and between symbols in polities and political symbols, the study reinterprets gandhian philosophy and praxis in terms of political symbolism. The study ably brings out how the shift in perspective--from the received western worldview to a rooted point of view--might ...
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The present work enquires into a largely unexplored area in social sciences, namely, the interaction of politics, symbols and culture, in both theoretical and applied perspectives. Making subtle analytical distinctions between the symbolist and the symbolic and between symbols in polities and political symbols, the study reinterprets gandhian philosophy and praxis in terms of political symbolism. The study ably brings out how the shift in perspective--from the received western worldview to a rooted point of view--might alter the fundamental categories, methodology and self-understanding of a society in its own setting and relatedness to the outer world. The book contends that Gandhi questions not only the bow of the liberal-industrial-capitalist combine but also the why of their superimpositions on the non-west. To address the gandhian alternative is, thus, to address and confront the challenging ethos of our times in relation to both our heritage and the current optio
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