Against modernity: Gandhi and adult education

Gandhi was one of the first life‐long educationalists. Through his concept of Basic Education he tried to create a mode of learning which was both deeply spiritual and holistic. In this he was at odds with the western‐inspired vocational approach advocated by Nehru and the Congress Party. Nehru privately regarded Gandhi as a reactionary ‘magician’ but stood in awe of his power over the people and subtly incorporated him into the nationalist project. Little remains of the craft‐based decentred system Gandhi outlined at Wardha except for a few experimental ashrams. Drawing on some of the new Indian historiography we argue that Gandhi's inscription into the nationalist agenda maintained the division between an elite and the masses his educational system was designed to dissolve.