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APPROACHES TO MODERN INDIAN POLITICAL THOUGHT:

DERIVATIVE, DESI, BEYOND AND LIBERATION

Eveniya Nadia
Centre for Political Science, JNU
Professor Manindra Thakur
20/01/2023
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INTRODUCTION
The contributing factors in the emergence of political thought in modern India were the British
rule, modernization of the Indian tradition and challenges of nation formation, state formation and
economic development. Modern Indian Political thought involves three related issues of nation,
nationalism, and national identity. We call broadly divide modern Indian thought into two phases.
The first phase was that of what has often been referred to as the phase of 'Social Reform'. Thinkers
of this phase, were more concerned with the internal regeneration of indigenous society. The
second phase, is the phase that we can designate as the nationalist phase. The concerns in this
phase shift more decisively to questions of politics and power, freedom, and post-colonial political
and social issues. Intended and unintended consequences of colonial modernity engendered new
ideologies of liberalism, capitalism, nationalism, and democracy in various measures in the Indian
context. There are 4 major approaches to study Modern Indian political thought.

4 APPROACHES TO MODERN POLITICAL THOUGHT.

DERIVATIVE

Gopal Guru argues that the epistemology of derivative thought is whether a particular thought has
an alternative point of origin or it is just extension of the ‘modular’ form of nationalist thinking
which is already prevalent in the west and yet not available in India.1
Partha Chatterjee (one of the leading scholars on Indian nationalism), articulated the nationalist
thought in India is derivative in the sense as it the extension of modular form of nationalism which
has developed in the west. However, he limits his argument in two aspects. First, he does not
believe it to be “wholesale” borrowing from the west. It is quite particular in its borrowings. Thus,
for him, a nationalist thought would not constitute as nationalist if it is completely imitative of the
west. He says ‘nationalist discourse is historical in form but apologetic in substance.’
Hence, the nationalist thought in India suffers from a dilemma that while it has a will to carve out
for itself an autonomous epistemological space outside the influence of western discourse, at the
same time it is unable to escape the epistemological grip and gaze of the western discourse.

1
Guru, Gopal (2011), The Idea of India: ‘Derivative, Desi and Beyond’. Economic and Political Weekly.
VOL XLVI No 37.
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DESI
Gopal Guru takes a cue from Sudipta Kaviraj’s insights and argues that the Desi seeks to reverse
the logic of orientalism thus making the west an object of not only its own inquiry but also for
establishing both autonomy from and superiority over the west. And this strand of Indian thought
could be characterized as desi because it is self-referential. It has been self-referential in the sense
because it has developed within the intellectual conditions that are specific to territorial context of
India. Desi thought is “authentic” to the extent that it becomes self-referential or a source a
reference for others.
Epistemologically, desi is inegalitarian since it seeks separation from other contending intellectual
tradition. To remain hegemonic, it tries to assimilate heterodox traditions within itself. For
instances, the assimilation of one sect of Buddhism in Hinduism in ancient times. Thus, it attempts
to avoid the charge of being apologetic.2
Ultimately, the desi thinking in India seeks its autonomy from the west primarily because it has
access to the Sanskrit language which helps in the developed of an alternative theoretical thinking.

BEYOND
The category beyond attempts to bring forward the thinking that otherwise is pushed beneath and
beyond the public imagination. It is an alternative mode of thinking from the ‘margin’ that has
been pushed beyond both the derivative and the desi which have been treated as the regnant
Terrain of public thought in India. The thought which exists in the category of ‘beyond’ greatly
differs in its style and substance because of the way in which it expresses dissonance and
difference.
This thought plays a major role in modifying the real un-thought (of subaltern section) into
reflection. The untouchability forms the part of ‘un-thought’ which failed to get completely
accommodated in the course of desi and derivative3. Its open expression had to wait till the arrival
of Phule and Ambedkar into the intellectual tradition in the 19 th and 20th century in India. Phule,
Periyar and Ambedkar as reflective thinkers wanted to recast a particular reality into reflection

2
Guru, Gopal (2011), The Idea of India: ‘Derivative, Desi and Beyond’. Economic and Political Weekly.
VOL XLVI No 37.

3
Ibid.
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thus elevating it from mere description to its universal abstraction. The beyond approach also
differs from desi and derivative for using a vocabulary which might appear negative to some.
This particular approach goes beyond itself and other approaches in search of an alternative
normative ideal. It doesn’t suggest that the thought from the margins does not have its own ideal
rather it does have its own ideal. For instance, Ambedkar moves from ‘bahishkrut Bharat’ to
‘Prabuddha Bharat’ or from ‘lokvigarha’ to ‘loksangraha4.’

LIBERATION
Liberalism as a political idea in India was developed by the English educated middle class, a
product of the colonial education system. The colonial education was, introduced with the aim of
creating cultural and ideological hegemony for maintaining alien rule. It was intended to project
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the superiority of European values and institutions to disseminate them as the ideal for Indians.
The liberal critique of Indian society and colonial state began with Renaissance. Raja Rammohun
Roy, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Mahatma Gandhi Jyotiba Phule, Ambedkar, and others
tried to set a liberal model for transforming Indian society and polity. The Indian liberal thinkers
tried to break the structure of domination for attaining Liberation.

GANDHI AS A THINKER OF LIBERATION

According to Hindu tradition the only means to attain liberation(moksha) is though the following
the path of PURUSHASTRAS or 4 ultimate aims or purpose of human life, which are:
ARTHA(economic values) – brings the need of wealth for survival
KAMA( Desire)- biological needs of the body
DHARMA(righteousness) – the knowledge of laws of nature
MOKSHA(liberation)- being Conscious of Consciousness
It believed moksha could be attained by the proper exercise of Purushastras. Purushastras were the
defining feature of human beings. According to Manu, the aggregate of the three would lead to
moksha. The Indian thinkers supported the ascendency of moksha over all other purushastra.
Gandhi entirely titled the concept of possessive individualism, by placing the universe and
humanity at the centre, human owing their existence to it. Gandhi believed moksha could not be

4
Ibid.
5
B.A in Political Science (2017), IGNOU, http://egyankosh.ac.in//handle/123456789/20623
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attained by renouncing worldly relations rather constantly engaging with them. He sought to
harmonize the political and the spiritual. He considered his struggle for political and
economic betterment of masses as the only path to moksha available to him. He wanted
freedom to reach collective consciousness.
Gandhi believed theory of moksha did not belong to any sect, rather it was a general theory of life
of human existence.
Those who aspire to moksha cannot afford to keep out of any field of life. This is my devotion to
truth has drawn me into the field of politics. The coordinated pursuit of all purushastras led to
emergence of new Gandhian Paradigm. 6

CRITICAL ANALYSIS (Why Liberation Approach)

We approach these thinkers to imagine our idea of liberation, which is utopia. Without utopia we
do not get impetus to fight against existing structures of domination. We study liberal strand
thinkers to see what kind of philosophy they produced in their own time, how much new ideas
they could bring in. For example, if was very utopian at that time to think about women’s liberation
but Ram Mohan Roy did it or the idea about annihilating untouchability but Ambedkar did it.
Whether the discourse was derivative or desi it does not matter, if it does not give us idea about
liberation. Our approach to read this approach should be to extract something universal
which could contribute to idea of UNIVERSAL HUMAN LIBERATION.
Even in western political thought, Herbert Marcuse 7talks about how the affluent capitalist society
has reduced individual to ‘atomized’ human and have alienated them from other beings and even
their own product. The capitalism has commoditised human beings (physically and mentally)
through media and advertisement. We are voluntarily subjugated because our imagination is
controlled by capitalist market forces. Humans are Trapped in it, We need to get out of it. For
Liberating from hyper consumerist mindset, we need to create a utopia of new human being
who is not guided by market forces, who is able to love and work for betterment of other.
What makes Indian discourse unique is the fact that this discourse was created during the political
struggle itself. All kinds of problem that people are facing in different parts of the World, all of

6
Parel, Anthony(2006), Gandhi’s philosophy and the Quest for Harmony

7
Marcuse, Herbert (1969), An Essay on Liberation, London, Great Britain, The Penguin Press.
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them were existing together, we were fighting against religion conservatism, communalism,
colonialism, capitalism therefore any solution given by them must be important for constructing a
new utopia in contemporary times also. Therefore, these thinkers can help us in constructing
idea of liberation which will keep evolving. That is why we must approach our Indian political
thought from angle of idea of liberation.
To develop a new theory of liberation, we need to reconstitute our present relation with
nature, other human beings, knowledge, and our own consciousness.

CONCLUSION
We have briefly analysed all four approaches in Modern Indian political thought. The derivative
or desi approach talks about nationalist thought or idea of India ignoring the voice of the
downtrodden. Beyond, on the other hand, attempts to seeks to voice out the thinking which is
pushed beneath of supressed subaltern sections of the society.
However, the liberation approach is Universalistic in nature since it seeks to break the structures
of domination at a large scale. It helps us in creating a new utopia which would help us in solving
our existing problems and set us free from the structure of domination.

References
1. Guru, Gopal (2011), The Idea of India: ‘Derivative, Desi and Beyond’. Economic and
Political Weekly. VOL XLVI No 37.

2. Marcuse, Herbert (1969), An Essay on Liberation, London, Great Britain, The Penguin
Press.

3. Parel, Anthony(2006), Gandhi’s philosophy and the Quest for Harmony

4. B.A in Political Science (2017), IGNOU, http://egyankosh.ac.in//handle/123456789/20623

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