Reclaiming Gandhi for Gender Equality: A Case for Reflective Autonomy.

The struggle for Gender equality in India is a continuous and dynamic one, with trajectories that can be traced back to pre-colonial times. Irrespective of many progressive ideas and campaigns by women's movements in India which, raised debates around representation, domestic violence, reproductive autonomy, sexual harassment at the workplace and property rights, there is still a long road ahead for women to be completely emancipated. To address these challenges, which have magnified with the reconfiguration of the global economy and the intrusion of modern technologies, this paper seeks to explore and reclaim Mahatma Gandhi's ideas of Satyagraha and Swaraj, especially in the context of gender equality. Drawing on his ideas about non-violence, the moral force of feminine consciousness, and the resolute pursuit of truth, the paper argues that Gandhi's philosophy of Satyagraha and swaraj has inherent tools to address these challenges through emancipatory conceptions of labour, the body, agency, consciousness, and oppression. The article delves deep into these ideas and attempts to unravel the dilemmas and contradictions highlighted in critical feminist readings of Gandhi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]