As part of commemoration of 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi (from October 2, 2018 to October 2, 2020), IIT Bombay is organising an Institute Lecture on Wednesday, September 30, 2020.
The details of the lecture are given below:
Title : "Was Gandhi a Champion of the Caste System?"
Speaker : Prof. Nishikant Kolge, Associate Professor, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi
Date : Wednesday, September 30, 2020 | Time : 5.00 pm
Webex link : https://kaksha.webex.com/kaksha/onstage/g.php?MTID=e583d22fbc670bbf7fa9f5a625f9d1fda
Abstract:
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi’s views on the caste system is sought to be understood through three approaches: by exploring his personal practices with regard to caste; by studying how community life was organised in Gandhi’s ashrams, since the way of life in these ashrams reflects his philosophy of life; and by reflecting on some explanations that have been put forward to explain the inconsistencies between Gandhi’s practices and his writings, where he explicitly defends caste.
About the speaker:
Dr. Nishikant Kolge is currently an Associate Professor at Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi. Earlier, he has served as an Assistant Professor in the Department of History, and the coordinator of Centre for Gandhian Studies, Tripura University for eight years. He holds a Ph.D. in History from the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Madras. His articles have appeared in landing journals such as Gandhi Marg, Dialogue Quarterly, Journal of Contemporary Thought, Journal of Dharma Studies and Economic and Political Weekly (EPW). He is also the author of widely-acclaimed book “Gandhi against Caste” (New Delhi: OUP), 2017. He has also served as a manuscript reviewer for Oxford University Press and a referee for top journals such as EPW and Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism. He has been Sabarmati Fellow at The Sabarmati Ashram Preservation and Memorial Trust (SAPMT), Ahmedabad (2017). Recently, he has been selected for Fulbright - Nehru Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship 2018-19.