Gandhi: The Non-Violent Socialist is Trusteeship the Only Viable Sustainable Economic Model?

Abstract

Fighting against inequality and discrimination, Gandhi developed his famous non-violent resistance, first in South Africa, and then later on in India, in the fight for independence. However, non-violence was not only his “experimented truth”, but also an essential requirement in the socio-economic arena. According to Gandhi, economic equality was not to be achieved through violence or revolution, as communists suggested. Rather, a peaceful shift in people’s self-transformation, and the construction of Swaraj and Swadeshi were desirable in order to make a true socialist India, in a Gandhian sense. On the other hand, Gandhi’s theory of trusteeship has made a comeback in the 21st century along with a continuous discussion on sustainable development. This paper critically reviews and discusses Gandhi’s conception of Trusteeship and its worth as a sustainable and equitable mode of production. How does Gandhi’s trusteeship model put emphasis on the decentralization of power and sustainability? How is it still relevant in the late modern world? What kind of impact can this model of trusteeship have on the current problems of climate change and sustainability? Does corporate social responsibility partially realize this Gandhian model of economic production? Observing corporate social responsibility in the light of Tata Group and its obligations and accountability for effects on society, a new framework is formed supporting Gandhi’s model of trusteeship, which, as observed nowadays, is starting to have a global appeal.