Indian Political Thought

By Professor Sibaji Pratim Basu | St. Xavier's College (Autonomous), Kolkata

Learners enrolled: 1283

This course focuses in detail on the political discourse and the actual functioning of the Indian political thought process. It simultaneously studies in detail the political philosophy & structure from Ancient to Modern India. In doing this it elaborately deals with the prominent political ideologue of India i.e. Bharat. This course shows that how their thought process had been controlled by local influences & time frame and critically assesses its impact on political functioning. The major contradictions of the different Political thoughts are to be seriously analyzed along with as assessment of their successes and failures.

Summary

Course Status :	Completed
Course Type :	Elective
Duration :	6 weeks
Category :	Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit Points :	2
Level :	Undergraduate
Start Date :	31 Jan 2022
End Date :	13 Mar 2022
Enrollment Ends :	28 Feb 2022
Exam Date :

Page Visits

Course layout

Week 1

1. Introducing Ancient Indian Political Thought

2. Archaeological, Numismatic & Epigraphic Sources

3. Literary Sources

4. Features of Indian Political Thought-Early Era

Week 2

5. Features of Indian Political Thought- Post Vedia Era

6. Kautilya’s Dandaniti

7. Saptanga Theory

8. Kautilya’s Foreign Policy'

Week 3

9. Mahatma Gandhi- Basic Premises of Political Thought
10. Gandhi ji’s Concepts of Non-violence and Satyagraha

11. Mahatma Gandhi’s Theory of the State

12. Gandhi’s Concept of Trusteeship

Week 4

13. Gandhi’s Concept of Sarvodaya

14. Politics of Liberal Moderation

15. Tilak’s Concept of Swaraj

16. Tilak’s Concept of Nationalism

Week 5

17. Political Philosophy

18. Life of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar

19. Political Thoughts of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar

20. Life of Ram Manohar Lohia

Week 6

21. Political Thought of Ram Manohar Lohia

22. Life of Jayaprakash Narayan

23. Political Ideas of Jayaprakash Narayan

24. Nehru On Democracy

25. Ramabai On Patriarchy

Books and references

1. Altekar, A. S. (1996); ‘State and Government in Ancient India’; Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi.

2. Sharma, R.S. (2012); ‘India’s Ancient Past’; Oxford University Press, New Delhi.

3. U.N.Ghoshal: A History Of Indian Political Ideas, Oxford University Press, 1959.

4. V.P.Verma: Studies in Hindu political Thought and its Metaphysical Foundations, Delhi, Motilal Banarasidass.

5. Bandyopadhyay Sekhar (Ed); “Nationalist Movement in India: A Reader”; Oxford University Press (New Delhi), 2009

Instructor bio

Professor Sibaji Pratim Basu, a well-known political scientist and political commentator from West Bengal, teaches Political Science at Vidyasagar University, Midnapore. Graduated from Presidency College (1981) and post-graduated from University of Calcutta (1983), he obtained his Ph.D. also from Calcutta University, working on the thesis: “The Concepts of Nationalism and Internationalism: Tagore and Gandhi”. With a teaching and research career spanning more than three decades, he has taught, written books and articles, conducted and guided research in the areas like Modern Indian Political Thought & Politics; Socialist Thought; Forced Migration in South Asia; Popular Movements and People’s ‘Sustainable Rights’ in India.

Some of his publications include: The Poet and Mahatma: Engagement with Nationalism and Internationalism; an edited volume called The Fleeing People of South Asia: Selections from Refugee Watch; a co-edited volume called Politics in Hunger Regime: Essays on the Right to Food in West Bengal and also an edited book, Forced Migration and Media-Mirrors. He has also contributed articles to edited volumes published by Macmillan Publishers, Oxford University Press, Sage Publishers, Routledge/Social Science Press etc. He is a member of the editorial board of Vidyasagar Rachanasamagra (The Complete Writings of Paandit Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar) published by Vidyasagar University.

He is a board member, and presently the Secretary of Mahanirban Calcutta Research Group and also holds membership of Institute for Development Studies Kolkata (IDSK – as a nominated member); West Bengal State Book Board (Member, Political Science); besides being the life member of West Bengal Political Science Association.