Legends in Gandhian Social Activism: Mira Behn and Sarala Behn

This book is about Madeleine Slade (1892-1982) and Catherine Mary Heilemann (1901-1982), two English associates of Mohandas K. (Mahatma) Gandhi (1869-1948), known in India as Mira Behn and Sarala Behn. The odysseys of these women present a counternarrative to the forces of imperialism, colonialism, capitalism, and globalized development. The book examines their extraordinary journey to India to work with Gandhi and their roles in India's independence movement, their spiritual strivings, their independent work in the Himalayas, and most importantly, their contribution to the evolution of Gandhian philosophy of socio-economic reconstruction and environmental conservation in the present Indian state of Uttarakhand. The author shows that these women developed ideas and practices that drew from an extensive intellectual terrain that cannot be limited to Gandhi's work. She delineates directions in which Gandhian thought and experiments in rural development work and visions of a new society evolved through the lives, activism, and written contributions of these two women. Their thought and practice generated a new cultural consciousness on sustainability that had a key influence in environmental debates in India and beyond and were responsible for two of the most important environmental movements of India and the world: the Chipko Movement or the movement against commercial green felling of trees by hugging them, and the protest against the Tehri high dam on the Bhagirathi River. To this day, their teachings and philosophies constitute a useful and significant contribution to the search for and implementation of global ideas of ecological conservation and human development.

Auteur

Bidisha Mallik is an assistant teaching professor in Global Ethics at the University of Washington, Tacoma. She has also taught at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Canada and at the University of North Texas, Denton. She received her Ph.D. from the Department of Philosophy and Religion at the University of North Texas and her M.A. in Environment and Development from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. Bidisha's research interests include Gandhian philosophy and nonviolent movements for social change, and philosophy and practical ethics topics related to the environment, sustainability, public policy, gender, art and aesthetics, music, and religion.

Contenu

Bridging Divides: Mira Behn and Sarala Behn in Gandhian Social Activism

1) General Introduction

PART I: The Road Taken: Early Life and Work in India with Gandhi 2) Mira Behn: When the Spirit Becomes the Guide

3) Sarala Behn: She Who Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways )

PART II: Gandhian Sarvodaya and the Challenge to Development

4) Gandhi and Science?: Rethinking Science, Technology, and Development the Gandhian Way

5) Off the Beaten Path: Mira Behn and Himalayan Environment and Development

6) From Reform to Revolution: Sarala Behn, Nai Talim, and the Rise of Local Women's Power

Part III: The Battle for the Hill Environment: The Behns in Gandhian Activism

7) Saving the Forests: Ecology in Sarvodaya

8) Protesting the Dam: Vision of a Permanent Economy

Part IV: The Bridge Builders: The Integrative Worldviews of Mira Behn and Sarala Behn

9) Beauty Wonder, and Sustainability: Reconnecting Humans to Nature for "Durable Harmony"

10) Holistic Education and Practical Spirituality for Human-Nature Harmony

11) Bridging Divides: The Living Legacies of the Behns

new outline structure

Bridging Divides: Mira Behn and Sarala Behn in Gandhian Social Activism

1) General Introduction

PART I: The Road Taken: Early Life and Work in India with Gandhi (with introduction text - former Chapter 2)

2) Mira Behn: When the Spirit Becomes the Guide (former Chapter 3)

3) Sarala Behn: She Who Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways (former Chapter 4)

PART II: Gandhian Sarvodaya and the Challenge to Development

(with Introduction text - former Chapter 5)

4) Gandhi and Science?: Rethinking Science, Technology, and Development the Gandhian Way (former Chapter 6)

5) Off the Beaten Path: Mira Behn and Himalayan Environment and Development (former Chapter 7)

6) From Reform to Revolution: Sarala Behn, Nai Talim, and the Rise of Local Women's Power (former Chapter 8)

Part III: The Battle for the Hill Environment: The Behns in Gandhian Activism (with Introduction text - former Chapter 9)

7) Saving the Forests: Ecology in Sarvodaya (former Chapter 10)

8) Protesting the Dam: Vision of a Permanent Economy (former Chapter 11)

Part IV: The Bridge Builders: The Integrative Worldviews of Mira Behn and Sarala Behn (with Introduction text - former Chapter 12)

9) Beauty Wonder, and Sustainability: Reconnecting Humans to Nature for "Durable Harmony" (former Chapter 13)

10) Holistic Education and Practical Spirituality for Human-Nature Harmony (former Chapter 14)

11) Bridging Divides: The Living Legacies of the Behns (former Chapter 15)