Nationalism, violence, and globalization : reflections on Gandhi's political thought

Though forced to reorganize itself around the rising global imaginary, the national in both its ideological and institutional forms will be around for the foreseeable future. In fact, a good case can be made that globalization has actually increased the intensity with which the national seeks to reassert itself. Will the national resist the global violently or can it be accommodated within an increasingly flattened multiplicity of overlapping geographical scales framed by a thickening sense of globality? In short, is nationalism compatible with globalism? Focusing on Mahatma Gandhi's surprisingly current reflections on nationalism, violence, and globalization (in the form of 'cosmopolitanism'), this chapter wrestles with these questions to illuminate the evolving relationship between the national and the global, the particular and the universal, and the parochial and the cosmopolitan. Indeed, as can be gleaned from new studies on Gandhi's political thought, the relevance of his ideas for our global age is being increasingly recognized. Resonating with the overall theme of this collection, this chapter ultimately seeks to contribute to the timely exploration the complex dynamics between modern forms of power, political ideas, and the intensifying social interconnections in our globalizing world.