Open Access Research Article
“REVISITING GANDHIAN PHILOSOPHY OF SIMPLE LIVING THROUGH THE LENS OF SLOW MOVEMENT AND MINIMALISM FOR CLIMATE CHANGE ACTION IN CONTEMPORARY ERA”
Published Paper
Article Details
“REVISITING
GANDHIAN PHILOSOPHY OF SIMPLE LIVING THROUGH THE LENS OF SLOW MOVEMENT AND
MINIMALISM FOR CLIMATE CHANGE ACTION IN CONTEMPORARY ERA”
Authored by - DR. PRATIK SALGAR
Abstract
Industrialisation
has impacted world environment resulting in Climate Change. Human lifestyle has
direct nexus with industrialisation which impacted World Environment. Laws and
policies regarding Sustainable Development shall take into account
environmental issues. It is challenge before laws and policies to achieve
sustainable development globally. It is not only challenge before state to
achieve sustainability through supportive laws and policies. But it is more
about how citizens pursue laws and policies.
From
citizen centric purview; fundamental duties of citizens play vital role in
achieving sustainability. Indian philosophies, specifically Gandhism emphasise
simple living of human being. Gandhian version of simple life rejects
industrial culture as violent, competitive and destructive of nature and thus
unsustainable in long run. Time has come to revisit Indian philosophies to
combat with Climate Change. Western philosophies like Minimalism and Slow
Movement are aiming at simple lifestyle of human which has already been there
in Indian philosophies long back.
Researcher
here tried to analyse Gandhian aspect of simple lifestyle in relation with
Minimalism and Slow Movement against Climate Change. Suggestions and
recommendations by researcher will be significant as to law-policy
implementation to achieve sustainability.
1.
Introduction:
“Grain collected by ants, honey
collected by bees, and wealth accumulated by a greedy person, will all be
destroyed along with its source.”[2]
Abovementioned Sanskrit shloka
highlights an eye-opening message for humans and imposes a duty on human beings
not to store resources only for themselves. The concept of sustainable
development was described by the 1987 Bruntland Commission Report as
“development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”[3]
Thus it also applies to the consumption of natural resources as well.
Central idea of ‘Sustainable Development’ is also on similar lines. Before
discussing about consumption of resources; it becomes significant to discuss
‘need’ of human being. Once people
get used to a certain luxury, they take it for granted. Then they begin to
count on it.[4]
Finally they reach a point where they can’t live without it.[5]
Lifestyle of human being decides the needs/wants. According to needs of
human production of goods is done which promotes industrialisation. As per
Indian scenario, in post-independence era, to combat with unemployment and
poverty; policies were aiming at industrialisation. Industrialisation then
reached to such an extent that ‘environmentalism’ has started developing around
1980s and accordingly the first statute was enacted in 1986 i.e. The
Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
Before this development,
environmentalism was only confined to the rich people in society and the poor
and tribal people were dependant on natural resources for their livelihood.
With industrial development, environment was degraded to such an extent that it
became big reason of concern for poor people as well and that is evident from
Chipko Movement. The first thing to remember about Chipko is that it was not
unique. It was representative of a wide spectrum of natural resource conflicts
in the 1970s and 1980s — conflicts over forests, fish, and pasture; conflicts
about the siting of large dams; conflicts about the social and environmental
impacts of unregulated mining.[6]
In all these cases, the pressures of urban and industrial development had
deprived local communities of access to the resources necessary to their own
livelihood.[7]
This creates the question mark on human lifestyle, consumption of resources and
environmental sustainability.
The changes in the physical climate
system, most notably more intensive extreme events, have adversely affected
natural and human systems around the world, contributing to a loss and
degradation of ecosystems including tropical coral reefs; reduced water and
food security; increased damage to infrastructure; additional mortality and
morbidity; human migration and displacement; damaged livelihoods; increased
mental health issues; and increased inequality.[8] Over 97% of scientist agree that humans
cause climate change. Humanity’s accelerated burning of fossil fuels and
deforestation have led to rapid increases of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere
and global warming.[9]
These facts underline the seriousness of Climate Change and its impact on human
lives. In this technologically developed era, it is a need of time to take an
action against this. In its
2018 special report, the IPCC warned that we only have until 2030 to prevent
the worst impacts of climate change.[10]
From this perspective, United Nations has set sustainable development goals
which are to be achieved till 2030. It is a challenge before every nation to
achieve these goals because ‘environment’ is such a complex subject which has
to be dealt by considering many aspects. Environmental laws and policies need
to consider various aspects as to achieve sustainability. At the other end, it
is not only responsibility of the governments to make the laws and implement
those to achieve required object; but it is equal responsibility of citizens to
follow their duties. Good governance is combined effect of state action and
citizen duties. As discussed in previous part, human lifestyle has nexus with
industrialisation and sustainable development. Thus, to achieve good governance
in environmental sustainability human lifestyle is an aspect which may be
considered from citizen duty centric view.
Climate change can be overwhelming. The
science is complex, and when it comes to future impacts, there are still a lot
of unknowns.[11]
While real solutions will require action on a global scale, there are choices
you can make in your day-to-day life to lessen your personal impact on the
environment.[12] Thus, it is high time now to overlook human
lifestyle.
Gandhi
offered, as an alternative, a code of voluntary simplicity that minimized wants
and recycled resources-his own letters were written on the back of used paper.
One of Gandhi’s best known aphorisms is: ‘the world has enough for everybody’s
need, but not enough for one person’s greed:’ an exquisitely phrased one-line
environmental ethic.[13]
Researcher here deals with principles of Simple Lifestyle by Mahatma Gandhi
along with philosophies of Minimalism and Slow Movement with special reference
to Climate Change action.
2.
Capitalism: Driving Force for Current Pattern of
Consumption
Capitalism
is often thought of as an economic system in which private actors own and
control property in accord with their interests, and demand and supply freely
set prices in markets in a way that can serve the best interests of society.[14]
Modern capitalist systems usually include a market-oriented economy, in which
the production and pricing of goods, as well as the income of individuals, are
dictated to a greater extent by market forces resulting from interactions
between private businesses and individuals than by central planning undertaken
by a government or local institution. Capitalism is built on the concepts of
private property, profit motive, and market competition.[15]
Current
consumption of the goods is capitalism driven. The market has become so wide
that numerous corporations provide a variety of services and goods and every
corporation provides endless choices available for consumers. This has created
the current societal structure which is based on the idea of consumption and
commercialization, opposed to the earlier societies that were more work-based
and industrialized.[16]
Thus, it is clear that the current consumption pattern is capitalist and it is
ultimately having impact on lifestyle of public at large.
3.
Slow Movement:
“Slowness is the forgotten dimension to time.
Unlike chronological time, it is non-linear, time here and now, time that works
for you, extraordinary time. So why be fast when you can be slow? Slowness is
also about balance, so if you must hurry, then hurry slowly.”
-Geir Berthelsen[17]
As a result of Industrialisation,
speed of development has rapidly increased which impacted human lives too. Pace
of human life has increased tremendously. Now it is the time to ask ourselves
that do we need this much pace of development..? Rather e should ask ourselves
that are we ‘developing’ while running with time..?? One can understand easily
that whenever we are rushing fast; we miss many facets which play vital role in
human development. It is well said by Great Artist Padmavibhushan Hariprasad
Chaurasiya that, “journey is more beautiful than the destination because; after
reaching destination you realise that you missed many beautiful moments just
because you were concerned about your goal to be achieved.” Paradox is that
Hariji has realised this after reaching his destination and high position in
life. This may be a lesson for everyone in this technological era that we need
to slow down our pace and enjoy the life fullest. Slowness here simply means
doing right things at right time with appropriate pace. The dichotomy between
speed and slowness must be as old as humanity itself, but it is true that since
the Industrial Revolution, acceleration has not stopped.[18] The
cult of speed, and doing more and more things, has led many people one day to
stop and realize that the fact of working a lot, traveling a lot, or filling
the entire schedule with activities, prevents them from enjoying the
activities.[19]
The Slow Movement aims at cultural
shift towards slowing down life’s pace. A cultural movement in favour of
slowing down in a world obsessed with speed is a useful prequel to any debate
about prosperity and macroeconomic policy.[20] This
movement started with the protest by Carlo Petrini against opening McDonald’s
restaurant in Rome in 1986. Over the period of time this did not remain just
the protest but it has become a subculture and way of life. Digging deeper, we
will find that there are many other slow areas like slow cities, slow fashion,
slow travel etc. Slow cities have an object to slow down pace of human life,
to design the space for human which will be having less or no traffic , to
improve quality of urban areas, to take care of environment, to promote healthy
lifestyle and preserving nature of local cultural heritage. Kate Fletcher has
coined ‘Slow Fashion’ in 2007 which aims at quality over quantity. It is more
about sustainable and eco-friendly fibres, materials, fabrics.
Slow
Movement has started in 1986, the same year in which India adopted The
Environment Protection Act. Rather it would be fair to say that the two
different parts of the world have started moving in altogether different
directions by breaking their cultural barriers. Developed nations had very fast
pace which they thought to be slowed down unlike India which wanted
‘development’ at the cost of environmental degradation. Fundamentals of slow
cities, slow fashion or slow travel were already the aspects of blissful life
in Indian culture which also reflected in Gandhian Principles of simple life.
Specifically, Indian Classical Art forms do believe in slowness as a fundamental
of creative beautifulness. Similarly it has reflected in many facets of human
lives. Thus, it would not be exaggeration to say that Indian lifestyle has
departed from their original culture which was very much sustainable, simple
and eco-friendly.
With more people forced to slow down
and simplify their lifestyles, interest in the slow movement has increased
during the pandemic. In fact, Google reported a 4x increase in the number of YouTube videos with
‘slow living’ in
the title in 2020 vs 2019. While some of these clips depict an idyllic rural
existence which is far from the reality of most, the increase in this video
content demonstrates a desire to reconnect with meaningful hobbies, nature and
ourselves.[21]
Slowing down the speed of
development would give us the chance to know our priorities and accordingly
making laws-policies sustainable. We may not have felt the need to have legal
framework for protecting our environment if we were successful in following our
eco-friendly culture and way of life. Mahatma Gandhi has also articulated this
through his philosophy of simple life.
4.
Minimalism:
Minimalism didn’t started with protest like Slow Movement has
started but it has emerged for the first time through the art forms.
“Minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things that bring you joy and
the removal of those that do not.”[22] Minimalism emerged in New
York in the early 1960s among artists who were self-consciously renouncing
recent art they thought had become stale and academic. A wave of new influences
and rediscovered styles led younger artists to question conventional boundaries
between various media. By the end of the 1970s, Minimalism had triumphed in
America and Europe through a combination of forces including museum curators,
art dealers, and publications, plus new systems of private and government
patronage.[23]
Minimalism
is defined as a design or style in which the simplest and fewest elements are
used to create the maximum effect.[24] Minimalism
calls for a strategy and slowly it becomes a habit that soon transitions into a
lifestyle. To begin with, it is important to acknowledge the core values and
meaning behind minimalism to truly appreciate minimalist living. The beauty of minimalism
is that it has no standard of perfection. Every decision that you take is
personal and you are the one who determines the purpose of it in your life.[25]
Minimalism
is nothing but Gandhian philosophy of minimal wants of life as he stated in his
book ‘The Story of My Experiments with Truth’ which talks about his simple and
minimalistic lifestyle. Rather Mahatma Gandhi was the original proponent of minimalism, rooted in the
Indian way. In an essay in 2019, architect Riyaz
Tayyibji analysed Gandhi’s buildings. Sabarmati Ashram was made from burnt
brick, handmade tiles, and sawn timber, all sourced locally.[26]
Minimalism
helps us to distinguish between ‘need’ and ‘greed’. Most of the environmental
sustainability issues are revolving around this problem. Understanding
Minimalism helps us to clarify the concept of ‘right’ and ‘reasonable
restrictions’. Exercising one’s right doesn’t mean overriding another’s right.
For that one should decide the need. The need which overrides another’s need is
greed. This is not only about human beings but we co-share planet Earth with
all living beings like animals-birds-creatures. Everyone has equal right over
the resources we possess. Reasonable restrictions on our rights justify this
philosophy of ‘need’. True essence of this philosophy surely develops
compassion for human beings and living beings on this planet which reflects in
following sholka:
“Be compassionate and friendly to all living beings”[28]
Now
Minimalism has started reflecting in Judiciary as well. Minimalism is a
methodology for judicial decision-making that essentially advocates that
judicial decisions should be made on the narrowest possible grounds sufficient
to decide the dispute before the court, while leaving larger questions of
principle for decision by the political branches, or deferring to their stance
on such principles.[29]
Minimalism therefore deals with the issue of how the court should go about the
decision-making exercise, and touches on both the approach of courts in
constitutional adjudication, as well as the substantive outcome of such
decisions.[30]
Therefore, from judicial-policy-law point of view, Minimalistic lifestyle if
adopted will try to make out needs of society along with individual which will
show the path towards sustainability.
5.
Combating Climate Change Action through Gandhian
Simple Lifestyle: Today’s Need
With thorough discussion of Slow Movement and
Minimalism one can understand that these are not new ideologies for India.
Idealistic lifestyle has reflected in Indian Traditional Knowledge.
Specifically, Gandhian principles of simple life have basis in Minimalism and
Slow Movement. Gandhi’s critique of Western industrialization
has of course profound implications for the way we live and relate to the
environment today. For him “the distinguishing characteristic of modern
civilization is an indefinite multiplicity of wants”, whereas ancient
civilizations were marked by an “imperative restriction upon, and a strict
regulation of, these wants.”[31]
Industrialisation has resulted into increase of wants of human and change in
lifestyle. Now, it is high time to choose ‘need’ instead of greed. Small things
in day-to-day life will make larger impact across the globe. As a part of this,
we have to now revisit Gandhian concept of simple lifestyle.
It needs hardly any mention that entire problem of
environmental hazards and degradations are rooted in the
scientific-technological development leading to large scale and speedy
industrialization and the consequent socio-culture upheavals the world over.[32] Underlying
a strategy of imitative industrialization was the adoption of the most ‘modern’
technologies, with little regard for their social or ecological consequences.
In theory there were, of course, many options available to the Indian state.
The technologies adopted could be capital or labour intensive; they could be
oriented towards satisfying the demand for luxury goods or fulfilling the basic
needs of the masses; they could degrade the environment or be non-polluting;
they could use energy intensively or sparingly; and they could use the
country’s endowment of natural resources in a sustainable fashion or liquidate
them; and so on.[33]
Even with these available possibilities; we failed to notice this and
accordingly implement through law and policy. Rather than imitation; we could
have been relied more on traditional knowledge and Gandhian way of simple
living. Gandhi experimented with and
wrote a great deal about simple living in harmony with the environment but he
lived before the advent of the articulation of the deep ecological strands of
environmental philosophy.[34] Now, in
this technological world, if we think from development point of view, there is
no harmony with environment. Rather environment and development are considered
to be antonyms. Gandhian lifestyle considers environment as friend of human.
Rather human being is part of nature and thus human lifestyle need to be in
tune with nature.
Lowering
individual carbon footprints from 16 tons to 2 tons doesn’t happen overnight!
By making small changes to our actions, like eating less meat, taking fewer
connecting flights and line drying our clothes, we can start making a big
difference.[35]
Climate change, deforestation, overgrazing, fisheries collapse, food
insecurity, and the rapid extinction of species are all part of a single,
over-arching problem: Humanity is simply demanding more from the Earth than it
can provide. By focusing on the single issue, we can address all of its
symptoms, rather than solving one problem at the cost of another. Also, it
makes the self-interest to act far
more obvious.[36]
By revisiting Gandhian philosophy of simple lifestyle we need to understand
that rather than enforcing the ‘right’; now we have to be more conscious about
our ‘duty’ and that it the ultimate humanism.
6.
Conclusion and Suggestions
Minimalism
distinguishes between ‘need’ and ‘greed’ and slow movement aims at slowing down
the pace of development. Both of these aspects are significant for sustainable
and eco-friendly human lifestyle. Mahatma Gandhi has emphasised the same
aspects in his philosophy of simple lifestyle. Thus, it is concluded that even
though Minimalism and Slow Movement are contemporary movements; those are
reflected long back in Gandhian philosophy of simple lifestyle. One can change
small things in life which will bring larger impact. Being Indians, we know our
climatic and geographical conditions. With that one should manage needs of life
but should avoid greed for lavish lifestyle. Thus, at each point; human should
think about need and then only should move ahead if it is required for
fulfilling need. If the needs of human are minimalised then it will impact on
production of various commodities which helps to reduce industrial pollution
and carbo footprints. Ultimately, simple lifestyle will lead to combating
climate change.
[1] Facebook, https://hi-in.facebook.com/SanskritPearls/posts/10156970545043831/ (last visited March 20, 2022).
[4] Good Reads, https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/7886728-one-of-history-s-fews-iron-laws-is-that-luxuries-tend (last visited March 20, 2022).
[5] Yuval Noah Harari, Sapiens: A
Brief History of Humankind 98 (Penguin Random House UK 2015).
[6] The Hindu, https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-past-present-of-indian-environmentalism/article4551665.ece (last visited March, 23 2022).
[7] Id.
[8] Rita Adrian & others, Climate
Change 2022 Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability: Summary for Policymakers,
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Feb. 27 2022, 11:30 AM), https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGII_FinalDraft_FullReport.pdf
[9] The Nature Conservancy, https://www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-priorities/tackle-climate-change/climate-change-stories/climate-change-frequently-asked-questions/ (last visited March 24, 2022).
[10] Earth Day, https://www.earthday.org/5-terrifying-climate-change-facts-scare-halloween/ (last visited March 24, 2022).
[11] Nytimes, https://www.nytimes.com/guides/year-of-living-better/how-to-reduce-your-carbon-footprint (last visited March 20, 2022).
[12] Id.
[13] Ramchandra Guha, Environmentalism:
A Global History 30 (Penguin Random House India 2016).
[14] International Monetary Fund, https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2015/06/basics.htm (last visited March 23, 2022).
[16] Kleiderly, https://www.kleiderly.com/our-blog/the-psychology-behind-consumption (last visited March, 23 2022).
[18] Barcelona, https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/lafabricadelsol/en/noticia/the-slow-movement-a-philosophy-of-life_992353 (last visited March 11, 2022).
[19] Id.
[20] Rethinking Prosperity, http://rethinkingprosperity.org/cultural-vision-what-is-the-slow-movement/ (last visited March 08, 2022).
[21] Slow Living Ldn, https://www.slowlivingldn.com/what-is-slow-living/ (last visited March 10, 2022).
[24] Break The Twitch, supra note 19.
[25] Prakati, https://www.prakati.in/how-can-we-adapt-to-a-minimalist-lifestyle/ (last visited March 23, 2022).
[26] Beautiful Homes, https://www.beautifulhomes.com/design/feature/simple-and-natural-minimalism-in-design-the-gandhi-way.html (last visited March 15, 2022).
[28] Buddha Charitam 23.53
[29] Manupatra, http://docs.manupatra.in/newsline/articles/Upload/B5E6875A-6439-490C-BBE3-
B2A4D08DF9A6.pdf
(last visited March 15, 2022).
[30] Mrinal Satish and Aparna Chandra, Of
Maternal State and Minimalist Judiciary: The Indian Supreme Court’s Approach to
Terror-Related Adjudication, 21 National Law School of India Review 51, 53
(2009).
[31] Ramchandra Guha, How much should a
person consume? 299 (Permanent Black and the University of California Press
2006).
[33] Madhav Gadgil & Ramchandra
Guha, This Fissured Land: An Ecological History of India 162(Oxford University
Press 1992).
[35] The Nature Conservancy, https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/carbon-footprint-calculator/ (last visited March 15, 2022).
[36] Global Footprint Network, https://www.footprintnetwork.org/our-work/climate-change/ (last visited March 26, 2022).
Article Information
“REVISITING GANDHIAN PHILOSOPHY OF SIMPLE LIVING THROUGH THE LENS OF SLOW MOVEMENT AND MINIMALISM FOR CLIMATE CHANGE ACTION IN CONTEMPORARY ERA”
Authors: DR. PRATIK SALGAR
- Journal IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
- Published 2023/04/10
- Volume 2
- Issue 7
About Journal
International Journal for Legal Research and Analysis
- Abbreviation IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
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