freedom class 11th political science

 

CONTENTS

What is Freedom?

LIBERTY  Vs FREEDOM

Why do we need Constraints?

Harm Principle

Negative and Positive Liberty

Freedom of Expression

NELSON MANDELA- IDEAL OF FREEDOM

“ I have fought against the white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic  and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities”.

- Nelson Mandela’s autobiography- LONG WALK TO FREEDOM

 - He talks about his personal struggle against the apartheid regime in South Africa.

- Apartheid was introduced in 1948 by the NP (National Party) which was an all-white government. 

- It was a harsh system that gave little opportunities to non-white people and took away their basic human rights such as education, freedom of movement and rights to self-determination.

- For Mandela and his colleagues it was the struggle against such unjust constraints, the struggle to remove the obstacles to the freedom of all the people of South Africa (not just the black or the coloured but also the white people), that was the Long Walk to Freedom.

- For this freedom, Mandela spent twenty-eight years of his life in jail, often in solitary confinement.

 For freedom Mandela paid a very high personal price.

He spent 27 years in jail, and most of that time was spent on Robben Island. 

- During this time he had become an international symbol for the anti-Apartheid movement. 

AUNG SAN SUU KYI

"Freedom from fear" -biography of her.

- Gandhiji’s thoughts on non-violence have been a source of inspiration for Aung San Suu Kyi.

-In July 1989, the military government of the newly named Union of Myanmar (since 2011, Republic of the Union of Myanmar) placed Suu Kyi under house arrest in Yangon (Rangoon) and held her incommunicado. 

- The military offered to free her if she agreed to leave Myanmar, but she refused to do so until the country was returned to civilian government and political prisoners were freed. 

- The National League for Democracy (NLD), which Suu Kyi had cofounded in 1988, won more than 80 percent of the parliamentary seats that were contested in 1990, but the results of that election were ignored by the military government (in 2010 the military government formally annulled the results of the 1990 election). 

- Suu Kyi was freed from house arrest in July 1995, although restrictions were placed on her ability to travel outside Yangon.

- Aung San Suu Kyi’s published works included Freedom from Fear. 

- She says, “for me real freedom is freedom from fear and unless you can live free from fear you cannot live a dignified human life”.

- We must not, her words suggest, be afraid of the opinions of other people, or of the attitude of authority, or of the reactions of the members of our community to the things we want to do, of the ridicule of our peers, or of speaking our mind. 

- SHE GOT NOBLE PEACE PRIZE IN 1991

LIBERTY VS FREEDOM 

We hear a lot around us that people appear to use the word liberty and freedom as synonyms of each other. 

But there are some fundamental differences between these two concepts that must be understood. 

Liberty comes from the Latin word “libertatem” which means “condition of a freeman”. 

While freedom come from the English word “freodom” which means “state of free will”. 

Liberty is power to act and express oneself according to one’s will while freedom is the power to decide one’s action. 

Freedom is more concrete concept than liberty which is more associated with an individual’s connection with the state rather than with other individuals and circumstances. 

State guarantees freedom through the liberty it grants to its citizens.

LIBERTY

Condition of a free man

Power to act

Free to do something

FREEDOM

State of free will

Power to decide

Free from something

The common feature between these two concepts is that both remain unconstrained, which means that their realization is free from any constrain. Further, both follow rightful or ethical conformity in terms of their realization.

WHAT IS FREEDOM?

First meaning of Freedom- it is said to exist when external constraints on the individual are absent.

In terms of this definition an individual could be considered free if he/she is not subject to external controls or coercion and is able to make independent decisions and act in an autonomous way

Freedom is also about expanding the ability of people to freely express themselves and develop their potential.

In this sense it is the condition in which people can develop their creativity and capabilities.

No individual living in society can hope to enjoy total absence of any kind of restrictions.

It becomes necessary then to determine which social constraints are justified and which are not justified should be removed.

GANDHI’S VIEWS ON SWARAJ

SWARAJ

Swaraj incorporates  within it two words- Swa(Self) and Raj(Rule).

It can be understood to mean both the rule of the self and rule over self.

 Swaraj, in the context of the freedom struggle as a constitutional and political demand and as a value at the social-collective level.

It is not just freedom but liberation in redeeming one’s self-respect, self-responsibility and capabilities for self-realization from  institutions of dehumanization.

Gandhiji believed the development that follows would liberate both individual and collective potentialities guided by the principle of justice.

THE SOURCES OF CONSTRAINTS-

Restrictions on the freedom of individuals may come from domination and external controls. For example, colonial rulers over the people.

Some restrictions are imposed by the government through laws which embody the power of the rulers over the people. For example, the system of apartheid in South Africa.

Constraints on freedom can also result from social inequality. For example, caste system

Why do we need constraints?

Differences may exist between people regarding their ideas and opinions., they may have conflicting ambitions or they may compete for scarce resources.

There are numerous reasons why disagreements may develop in a society which may express themselves through open conflict.

We see people around us ready to fight for all kinds of reasons ranging from the serious to the trivial

Example- We see people around us ready to fight for all kinds of reasons ranging from the serious to the trivial. Rage while driving on the roads, fighting over parking spaces, quarrels over housing or land, disagreements regarding whether a particular film should be screened, all these, and many other issues, can lead to conflict and violence, perhaps even loss of life. Therefore every society needs some mechanisms to control violence and settle disputes.

Therefore every society needs some mechanisms to control violence and settle disputes.

But the creation of such a society requires that we be willing to respect differences of views, opinions and beliefs.

We need some legal and political restraints to ensure that differences may be discussed and debated without one group forcefully impose its views on the others.

Worse still, we may we confronted with attempts to bully or harass us so that we conform to their wishes. If so, we may want stronger support from law to ensure that my freedom is protected.

LIBERALISM

It is identified with tolerance as a value.

 Liberals have often defended the right of a person to hold and express his/her opinions and beliefs even when they disagree with them.

 Liberalism tends to give priority to individual’s liberty over values like equality.

 Historically, it favored free market and minimal role to the state.

Present day liberalism acknowledges a role for welfare state and accepts the need for measures to reduce both social and economic inequalities.

HARM PRINCIPLE BY J S MILL

The principle is that the sole end for which mankind are warranted individually or collectively in interfering with the liberty of action of any of that number is self-protection that the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community against his will is to prevent harm to others. 

The Harm principle holds that the actions of individuals should only be limited to prevent harm to other individuals.

According to Mill there are two types of actions- Self Regarding actions and Other Regarding actions.

Self Regarding Actions- those actions that have consequences only for the individual  and nobody else. It means actions which affect himself/herself only are self regarding actions. Here the state has no business to interfere in the actions of those people

Other Regarding Actions- Those actions that affect the other persons, or harm him/her is called other regarding actions. It means that if your actions harm me then I need to protect myself. 

Hence a soldier or policeman merely drunk is self‐regarding, a soldier or policeman drunk on duty is other‐regarding.

J S MILL  says that since freedom is very important for human life so it should be constrained only in special circumstances.

The ‘Harm Cause’ must be serious.

If it is a minor harm then there can be a social disapproval but we cannot call law to interfere in that. For example, If somebody has played a loud music then we should not call police to interfere and stop the music. We should show society’s disapproval to it. There cannot a legal punishment for it.

John Mill calls for tolerance of different views, interests and principles to other people. But if it harms the other people then it should be dealt by law. For example, Hate campaigns, but we cannot ask for life imprisonment for those people. 

There should be reasonable restrictions and reasonable punishment.

Reasonable restrictions means that punishment should not be in excess, not out of proportion of the action otherwise it would effect the general condition of freedom of society.

POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE LIBERTY

POSITIVE

Positive liberty explains the idea  ‘Freedom to’. It means freedom to work, freedom to write etc.

 For this we need state because when state provides education then only we can read, write and learn.

This area is concerned where state can interfere and state interference here does not restrict freedom.

It enhances freedom

For example, Provision of positive conditions like education, health, employment etc

NEGATIVE

Negative liberty explains the idea ‘Freedom from’. It means freedom from state , family ,community etc

For this we don’t need state

This is the area where no authority can interfere. An individual can do whatever he/she wants to do.

It enhances the dignity of an individual.

For example, what clothes to wear, what to read etc.

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 

One of the issues that is considered to belong to the minimum area of ‘non-interference’ is the freedom of expression. J.S.Mill set out good reasons why freedom of expression should not be restricted.

Freedom of expression is a fundamental value and for that society must be willing to bear some inconvenience to protect it from people who want to restrict it.

For free exchange of knowledge and free flow of ideas, there should be freedom to speak.

This is a very important freedom considering that many films, books, movies, plays etc are banned.

According to Voltaire, “I disapprove what you say but I will defend to death your right to say it.” It means that I may not agree with whatever you say but then you have the right to speak.

Some years ago Deepa Mehta, film maker, wanted to make a film about widows in Varanasi. It sought to explore the plight of widows but there was a strong protest from a section of the polity who felt that it would show India in a very bad light, who felt it was being made to cater to foreign audiences, who felt it would bring a bad name to the ancient town. 

It was subsequently made elsewhere. Similarly the book Ramayana Retold by Aubrey Menon and The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie were banned after protest from some sections of society. 

The film The Last Temptation of Christ and the play Me Nathuram Boltey were also banned after protests. 

CAN WE CURB FREEDOM?

Banning is an easy solution for the short term since it meets the immediate demand but is very harmful for the long-term prospects of freedom in a society because once one begins to ban then one develops a habit of banning.

 When should one ban and when should one not? Should one never ban? 

Just for interest, in England anyone who is employed to work for the Royal household is constrained by contract (a constraint?) from writing about the inner affairs of the household. So if such a person were to leave the employment they would be unable to give an interview or write an article or author a book about the politics of the Royal household

solution

Constraints of different kind thus exist and we are subject to them in different situations. While reflecting on such situations we need to realise that when constraints are backed by organised social — religious or cultural — authority or by the might of the state, they  restrict our freedom  in ways that are difficult to fight against

 However, if we willingly, or for the sake of pursuing our goals or ambitions, accept certain restrictions, our freedom is not similarly limited. 

J.s. mill’s views on freedom of expression

According to JS Mill-

No idea is completely false. Mill says that no idea in this world is false. For example, if your parents tell you to go for higher studies they are not wrong, but if you do not want to go for higher studies then also you are not wrong because you have interest in music.

Truth does not emerge by itself. It is only through debates and discussion that truth emerges.

 For example, discussion between parents and a young child can lead to this conclusion that the child will go for higher studies in music.

This conflict is important not only for past but for present and future also. Only when truth is exposed to constant criticism. 

For example, If higher studies has not helped the child in his music then constant discussion will nullify the importance of higher studies in music.

We cannot be sure what we considered true is actually true. Ideas which were true at one point of time are false at another point of time. For example, higher studies were important  but children can make career in music and by not going for higher studies

Netaji on freedom

Freedom is a word which has varied connotations and, even in our country, the conception of freedom has undergone a process of evolution. 

By freedom I mean all round freedom, i.e., freedom for the individual as well as for society; freedom for the rich as well as for the poor; freedom for men as well as for women; freedom for all individuals and for all classes. 

This freedom implies not only emancipation from political bondage but also equal distribution of wealth, abolition of caste barriers and social iniquities and destruction of communalism and religious intolerance. 

This is an ideal which may appear Utopian to hard-headed men and women, but this ideal alone can appease the hunger in the soul.”

THANK  YOU