MLK, Gandhi and non-violent movements: What is the relevance today?
A monument including the bust of civil rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr. at the corner of Jackson and Williams Streets in Danville. Reginald Hardwick/Illinois Public Media
Non-violence was key to Dr. Martin Luther King’s conception of politics, following the example of Mahatma Gandhi, who fought for India's freedom from British colonial rule. Even before King's assassination, activists were rejecting parts of that philosophy.
A scholar who has studied these historical figures analyzes how both Gandhi and King approached the subject of non-violence, and whether it’s still relevant today.
GUEST
Karuna Mantena
Professor of Politcal Science, Columbia University