Table Of ContentConfl uence of Thought
This page intentionally left blank
Confl uence of Thought
Mahatma Gandhi and
Martin Luther King Jr.
BIDYUT CHAKRABARTY
3
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford.
It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship,
and education by publishing worldwide.
Oxford New York
Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi
Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi
N ew Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto
With offi ces in
Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece
Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore
South Korea Switzerland Th ailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam
Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press
in the UK and certain other countries.
Published in the United States of America by
Oxford University Press
198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016
© Oxford University Press 2013
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior
permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law,
by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction rights organization.
Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the
Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above.
You must not circulate this work in any other form
and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Chakrabarty, Bidyut, 1958- author.
Confl uence of thought : Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. / Bidyut Chakrabarty.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–0–19–995123–9 (pbk.)—ISBN 978–0–19–995121–5 (cloth)
1. Nonviolence. 2. Gandhi, Mahatma, 1869-1948—Infl uence. 3. Gandhi, Mahatma,
1869-1948—Political and social views. 4. King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968—
Infl uence. 5. King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968—Political and social views. I. Title.
HM1281.C46 2013
303.6′1—dc23
2012050207
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
Dedicated to those fi ghting for human dignity
This page intentionally left blank
CONTENTS
Foreword, by Clayborne Carson ix
Preface xiii
Abbreviations xv
Introduction 1
1. Th e Intellectual Roots of C onfl uence of Th ought 28
Th e Socioeconomic and Political Contexts of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin
Luther King, Jr. 29
Intellectual Pilgrimage to Nonviolence: Gandhi 31
Critique of Gandhi: M. N. Roy, Rabindranath Tagore, and
B. R. Ambedkar 34
M. N. Roy and Gandhi 35
Rabindranath Tagore and Gandhi 37
B. R. Ambedkar and Gandhi 44
Intellectual Roots of King’s Sociopolitical Ideas 48
Sources of Inspiration 49
Concluding Observations 64
Nature of Protests 65
Religion and Nonviolence 67
2. Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.: Defying Liberals,
but Deifying Liberalism 70
Politics of Diff erence 71
Th e Problematique 75
Gandhi’s “Liberal” Dilemma 79
Martin Luther King Jr. and the American Enlightenment 83
An American Dilemma and Its Impact 92
Reinhold Niebuhr and King 95
King’s Liberal Challenge to Racial Prejudices 100
Th inking Alike 104
Concluding Observations 116
3. Articulation of a New Ideology: Gandhi’s Approach to
Human Equality 122
Gandhi in South Africa (1893–1914) 123
Gandhi in India 129
viii Contents
Gandhi on the All-India Scene 133
Th e Rise of Gandhi as a Pan-Indian Leader: Th e Noncooperation and
Civil Disobedience Movements 136
Th e Noncooperation Movement (1920–22) 137
Th e Noncooperation Movement: Consolidation of Gandhi 141
Th e Civil Disobedience Movement (1930–32) 143
Do or Die: Gandhi’s Articulation of Freedom 146
Th e August Revolution: A Radical Movement 149
Concluding Observations 150
4. Challenging Jim Crow: King’s Approach to Racial Discrimination 154
Th e 1955 Montgomery Bus Strike 158
Th e 1941 March on Washington 167
Th e 1963 March on Washington 169
Th e Birmingham Campaign, 1963 174
Th e Selma-to-Montgomery March, 1965 180
Concluding Observations 185
Conclusion 189
Notes 209
Bibliographical Notes and Select Bibliography 243
Index 257
FOREWORD
Bidyut Chakrabarty has written one of those unusual books that actually deliv-
ers more to readers than is suggested by the title. His book succeeds not only as
a concise and cogent comparative discussion of the ideas of Mahatma Gandhi
and Martin Luther King Jr., but also as an insightful examination of the broader
historical and intellectual context from which both leaders emerged. Informed
by Dr. Chakrabarty’s familiarity with the extensive literature regarding Gandhi
and King, Confl uence of Th ought sheds light on the political, cultural, religious,
and intellectual milieus that shaped the worldviews of the twentieth century’s
preeminent advocates of nonviolent resistance. Th is book provides an engaging,
thought-provoking, and well-researched examination of the lives and times of
two of the most infl uential fi gures of the twentieth century.
Since becoming the editor of King’s papers a quarter century ago, I have come
to realize that King cannot be understood apart from his intellectual encounter
with Gandhian nonviolence. Although the Hindu beliefs that Gandhi absorbed
during his formative years were quite diff erent from the Christian teachings that
King absorbed as the son of a Baptist minister, both were receptive to unconven-
tional religious and philosophical ideas. Both were drawn to existing traditions
of nonviolent activism and human rights, and both were skilled at adapting the
ideas of other activist intellectuals. Both were eclectic rather than original think-
ers, although their eclecticism eventually led each of them to develop a distinc-
tive body of ideas. Early in their lives, both Gandhi and King were infl uenced
by the nineteenth-century American nonconformist Henry David Th oreau, who
provided them with a convincing rationale for civil disobedience.
It is hardly surprising that Gandhi would exert considerable infl uence over
King’s intellectual development. Despite their very diff erent upbringings, they
had many qualities in common. Both men benefi ted from exceptional edu-
cational opportunities that made them familiar with the ideas of European-
American intellectual elites, but they also acquired unshakeable commitments
to egalitarianism and social justice. Even as King completed his graduate studies
in modern Euro-American theology, he discovered that Gandhi’s “emphasis on
love and nonviolence” provided “the method for social reform” he was seeking.
By the time he rose to national and international prominence as a spokesperson
