Work · South Asian & Tibetan Philosophy
The Intimate Enemy: Loss and Recovery of Self under Colonialism
Colonialism lives on in the minds of both sides: it imposed ideas of masculinity, adulthood and history on the British as well, and Gandhi’s politics drew on traditions that refused these hierarchies.
Introduction
The Intimate Enemy appeared in 1983 and consists of two long essays. The first, “The Psychology of Colonialism”, examines how British colonial culture in India linked power with masculinity and adulthood and how the colonised internalised these categories; the second, “The Uncolonized Mind”, looks for forms of thought that resisted them. Gandhi appears as a figure who drew on traditions in which androgyny and nonviolence were sources of strength. Combining psychology, history and literary analysis, the book became a classic of postcolonial studies.
Connections
Builds on
- Hind Swaraj1909 · Mohandas K. Gandhi
More works by Ashis Nandy
As of November 2026 · Improve this page · How Agora is made