The Gandhian Vision of Creative Work as Social Transformation

Abstract

This paper excavates the philosophical foundations of Mahatma Gandhi’s conception of work (shram) as a mechanism for individual and social transformation. Employing an intellectual-historical and hermeneutic approach, it argues that Gandhi’s theory of “creative work” constituted a comprehensive philosophy of praxis integrating ethics, economics, and politics. Based on close readings of Gandhi’s writings, the study delineates how he bridged spiritual and material realms through constructive labor. The analysis shows how principles such as Swadeshi (self-reliance), Sarvodaya (uplift of all), and the practice of “bread labor” were interwoven into Gandhi’s radical critique of industrial modernity and his program for spiritual and social regeneration. It finds that Gandhi’s integration of moral principles with everyday labor provided a coherent critique of modernity and a blueprint for rebuilding society from the bottom up. Gandhi’s vision of work emerges not as a mere economic doctrine but as a transformative project to empower individuals, build egalitarian communities, and re-embed economics within a moral and spiritual framework. For Gandhi, this “constructive programme” of work was as vital as political resistance in achieving swaraj (self-rule) and social justice. The study concludes that this Gandhian paradigm an internally coherent system linking productive labor with nonviolence and self-rule offers enduring insights for contemporary debates on sustainable development, the dignity of labor, and alternative models of progress.