| Abstract |
Gandhi referred to fasting as his «most potent weapon,» which he resorted to when all other means failed. How does the refusal to eat food work as a means of nonviolent protest? What does the method of fasting reveal about the politics and performativity of nonviolent action? Using a close reading of Gandhi’s own writings on fasting as well as an analysis of the media coverage of his fasts, this paper explores the political dramaturgy of fasting, arguing that it is the fundamentally theatrical relationship between the actor and spectators that makes the fast into a nonviolent protest method.
|