Two critics respond to Predrag Cicovacki’s book, Gandi’s Footprints. Cicovacki opens the discussion by presenting his motivations for exploring a paradox, that Gandhi’s work is widely revered but not widely emulated. Cicovacki explores a resolution to the paradox by suggesting how Gandhi’s promising visions may be followed without being imitated, especially Gandhi’s insight that we must seek spiritual grounding for life in a materialistic world. Critic Sanjay Lal affirms Cicovacki’s insight but suggests that precisely because Gandhi’s aspirations for spiritual life were profoundly transformative we should take care not to dilute them into our conventional wisdoms. Critic Carlo Filice asks how Gandhi’s commitment to unified reality could be more clearly articulated once a distinction is drawn between spirit and matter, also how Gandhi’s nonviolence could manage to embrace important exceptions. In reply to critics, Cicovacki proposes an approach to Gandhi informed by the insights of Tagore.

In this paper, I sketch out, following the suggestions of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Cesar Chavez, a morally responsible response to urban riots. This approach recommends that we focus our attention on two structural features of society that underlie and prompt urban riots. First, I examine how King recommends that we must understand the economic conditions surrounding such violence. Next, following the suggestion of Cesar Chavez, I argue we must attend to cultural violence, especially those social narratives surrounding the construction of masculinity and security in our culture. Chavez’s analysis builds on Gandhi’s notion of “constructive” nonviolent action. Chavez suggests intervening in culture to provide alternative accounts of safety and success in our society, as well as constructing new institutions and practices that embody those understandings. I conclude by examining two contemporary social movements--prison and police abolition--which attempt to embody this morally responsible response to urban violence.