Gandhi's Truth: On the Origins of Militant Nonviolence

The descriptions on this site and on the book-cover itself are terribly misleading. This is much less an examination of the rise of militant non-violence as a social phenomenon than it is a Freudian examination of Gandhi himself. It offers some interesting reflexions on Gandhi's motivations, and I like the focus of the book on a seemingly minor strike in Amedhabad. Erikson's writing style is also a plus, as he is very conversational and humble while otherwise strongly criticizing one of history's most beloved figures. Unfortunately, most of the book is so steeped in Freudian psycho-babble as to be not only significantly dated, but also really boring.

Eriksen assumes that the reader already knows Gandhi’s timeline, achievements, and autobiography so he throws around terms and names that never get defined. He is trying to search Gandhi’s childhood for the (Freudian) psychoanalytic seeds of the man’s later nonviolence methods. Much of the connections seem forced. Erickson apparently could not conceive of a time when his two favorite men, Gandhi and Freud, were not universally worshipped.

Mentioned in The Princessa: Machiavelli for Women by Harriet Rubin.

> LA VÉRITÉ DE GANDHI Les origines de la non-violence, par Erik H. Erikson ;
L’ENSEIGNEMENT DE MÂ ANANDA MOYÎ, par Josette Herbert (trad)
Se reporter au compte rendu de Germain Gabriel
In: Revue Esprit, No. 442 (Janvier 1975), pp. 155-156. … ; (en ligne),
URL : https://esprit.presse.fr/article/germain-gabriel/erik-h-erikson-la-verite-de-gan...