Contradictions of Conservatism

Abstract

This article identifies the difficulty in defining conservatism and then goes on to illustrate the contradiction inherent in conservative thought.* The central problem addressed by the article is the absence of conservative thinking in modern India. Contrary to the practice of labelling certain strands of thinking as conservative, Indian political thought of past two centuries hardly has any serious conservative tradition. Looking at the ideas of Malaviya, Gandhi and Hindu nationalists, this article shows that while some of their positions did come close to conservative thinking, they did not systematically pursue conservative thinking. A key reason for this is the colonial rupture that negative possibility of serious engagement with past.