Conjectures on peace education and Gandhian studies: method, institutional development and globalization

Abstract

This article examines the similarities and differences of the fields of Gandhian studies and peace education through an exploration of their content, institutional development, and globalization since the mid‐twentieth century. The methods utilized include document review of syllabi and course descriptions in Gandhian studies and peace education, as well as interviews with individuals involved in both fields. Through an examination of the history, emergence and core concepts in each field, this article argues that both fields have the potential to offer each other important lessons based in their own unique trajectories. Specifically, it was found that educational movements, and structural analyses of power and inequality that are often integral to them, in the global South can inform peace education by diversifying the voices deemed canonical in the field. Similarly, Gandhian studies, in responding to the unique dilemma of expanding resources and institutionalization amidst decreasing student demand, may do well to broaden its foci and further integrate contemporary social issues related to peace and social justice.