What are some pros of Gandhis civil disobedience movement?
Ghandi proved that there is no rule without the consent of the governed. Had Ghandi permitted/advocated violence and warfare, his movement would have been a civil war and would have ended in the complete and brutal suppression of the resistance to British colonial rule. Further, Ghandi would have been incapable of attracting so many diverse factions to the movement, for when there is open conflict, one faction or another would have flocked to the oppressor for purposes of gain. Instead, the nonviolent movement of civil disobedience (which in Europe has its roots in the writings of John Locke in the 1690’s) deprived Britain of the basis of its effective colonial rule. When the people simply refuse to cooperate, the colonial power is incapable of operation, and loses the benefit of its colonial program. Ghandi’s success is one of the most significant proofs of the power of consent in all the history of political theory.
