Revaluation of Tradition in the Ideology of the Radical Adivasi Resistance 23 Article Negotiating Gandhi—The Life and Experiences of Acharya P.C. Ray Madhumita Mazumdar ∗ Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology, Gujarat, India Abstract This article takes a close look at Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray’s engagement with Gandhi’s political and economic thought. It calls for a nuanced reading of Ray’s autobiography as a text that reveals the ways in which he sought to negotiate the key ideas of the Hind Swaraj and situate its fundamental premises in his own intellectual and professional quests. Published in two volumes in the years 1931–32, the Life and Experiences of a Bengali Chemist offers a wealth of insights into Ray’s understanding of the contemporary crisis of Western capitalism and the immense possibilities of a Gandhian resolution. Keywords Science and ethics, Life and Experiences of a Bengali Chemist, Hind Swaraj, Swadeshi, khadi and charkha, economic crisis, Indian political economy Introduction In the article titled ‘Mahatma Gandhi and the Working Scientist—A Recon- ciliation’, a practicing Indian scientist notes that although it is difficult to come with a clear idea of what was Gandhi’s view or understanding of modern science, it was fairly evident that what Gandhi tried to put together through a range of frag- mentary writings was an idea of good science or good scientific work. 1 To reach History and Sociology of South Asia 6(1) 23–39 © 2012 Jamia Millia Islamia SAGE Publications Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore, Washington DC DOI: 10.1177/223080751100600102 http://hssa.sagepub.com ∗ I am deeply grateful to the anonymous readers of this article as well as to Prof. Nasir Tyabji for several valuable comments and criticisms of an earlier version of this article. I also wish to thank Prof. Vishvajit Pandya for suggesting an interesting line of inquiry into what is really a much researched subject. 1 ‘Mahatma Gandhi and the Working Scientist: A Reconciliation’, Current Science 57, no. 24 (1988): 1313–16, http://eprints.iisc.ernet.in/32198/1/gandhi.pdf (accessed 22 August 2010). at NORTHWESTERN UNIV LIBRARY on March 26, 2015 hsa.sagepub.com Downloaded from