GANDHISM AND GANDHI'S POLITICAL VALUES FOR GENERATION Z: APPLICATIONS, DIFFICULTIES AND CONTEMPORARY OPPORTUNITIES

Abstract

Mahatma Gandhi, Political Philosophy & some Elements of Contemporary Ethical Thought in Politics remain the significant ethical representation of politics today. His concepts of truth (Satya), non-violence (Ahimsa), Satyagraha, Swaraj, Sarvodaya, trusteeship are akin to decentralisation and constructive work that were formulated during the period of India's freedom struggle against colonialism and social injustice but whose relevance transcends the circumstances under which these ideas originated. Generation Z are living through a political and social environment of an unprecedented kind, having grown up in the midst of social media, digital technology, globalisation, political polarisation, disinformation that comes at you twenty-four hours a day and economic vulnerability/depression with the added specter of ecocide. The paper looks at the need of Gandhi's political values for Generation Z and their possible translation in democratic and digitalised spaces of our current context. Employing a qualitative, interpretive design—grounded in Gandhi's original texts and the accepted secondary literature on Gandhism, youth politics, and digital media—the analysis constructs a translation framework that adjudicates each of the seven principles against three inter-correlated criteria of fidelity to Gandhi's original moral intention; transferability under present conditions; and defensibility in light of contemporary conceptions of equality and human rights. Exact opposite of that, Satya can provide a foundation for responsible digital citizenship, Ahimsa — offer ethical guidance regarding online disagreement, Satyagraha — lay the abstract for what constitutes sustained nonviolent civil action however big or small it is going to be, Swaraj — fortify intellectual dignity and self-restraint while Sarvodaya till offers a framework supporting social justice and inclusive development. It explores the limits of applying Gandhian ideas in confronting caste, gender and industrial society and the corresponding structural pressures of contemporary attention economy. It argues that Gandhi has more relevance for Generation Z as someone whose moral precepts need to be appropriated critically and imaginatively—not blindly emulated, through twentieth-century forms.