Image: Mahatma Gandhi, historical photograph.
Trusteeship was one of Gandhi’s distinctive ideas about economics and social responsibility. He sought a way to address inequality without relying on violent class conflict.
What is trusteeship?
Gandhi proposed that people who controlled significant wealth should regard themselves as trustees of resources that also had a wider social purpose.
Private property and social responsibility
Rather than calling for the immediate abolition of private property, Gandhi’s model placed ethical obligations on property holders and emphasised the welfare of the wider community.
Connection with nonviolence
Trusteeship reflected Gandhi’s broader preference for social transformation through persuasion, voluntary change and nonviolent action.
Criticism and debate
Economists and political thinkers have debated whether trusteeship could adequately address structural inequality and how such a model could be implemented in practice.
Why the idea remains relevant
Trusteeship continues to appear in discussions about ethical business, corporate responsibility, inequality and the relationship between wealth and social welfare.
Read NewsNationOnline’s Gandhi and khadi feature and explore the Gandhi Heritage Portal.
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