A Critical Analysis of Gandhian Philosophy and Economic Thought

Abstract

Mahatma Gandhi was a great philosopher who fought against the British colonialism and imperialism with weapons like non violence, non cooperation and peaceful struggle. According to him, economic laws which aim at material progress as economic development, should be formulated according to the laws of nature. There is no conflict between the laws of nature and laws of economics. The laws of nature are universal. He mostly emphasised on the small scale industries and also adopted the principle of Swadeshi. The Swadeshi movement proved as a milestone in the modern history as it broken the economic backbone of the british empire and It also evades the economic dependence on external market forces that could make the village community weak. He encouraged cottage and village industries and also initiated the production of khadi and its products to improve the economic condition of the country. By the encouragement of Mahatma Gandhi small scale trading of pure Indian products started and gradually small scale business changed into industries also focused to re-establish the economy with the small scale industries at the time of financial and medical emergencies.