Thin Swaraj: Towards an Authentic Indian Political Philosophy

<strong>Centre for Philosophy Jawaharlal Nehru University</strong> Talk on <strong>Thin Swaraj: Towards an Authentic Indian Political Philosophy</strong> By <strong>Akash Singh Rathore</strong> International Fellow, Centre for Ethics and Global politics Date: <strong>15th April, 2015</strong> <strong>Abstract : </strong>In this paper, I attempt to propose a workable contemporary ideal of svaraj that is thin – i.e. political, and free of metaphysical commitment – as opposed to the thick conception found in Gandhi's Hind Svaraj and, arguably, in KC Bhattacharya's 'Svaraj in Ideas' and certainly later in Ramachandra Gandhi's work. A thick conception of svaraj links it with exclusivist notions of spirituality, profound anti-modernity, exceptionalistic moralism, essentialistic nationalism and purism. On the contrary, post-independence India has bared witness to an alternative trajectory: since the 1970s there have been three generations of Indian political thought that have unfolded in the face of 'satanic' modernity (to use Gandhi's expression) itself, and – though not committed to spiritual or metaphysical doctrines, belief in India's exceptional moral stature, or essentialistic nationalism – nevertheless have managed to culminate in a broadly felt svarajist orientation: a thin svaraj.