This paper explores the idea of transformative harmony as a concern of the
political. It proposes that the cultivation of harmony as a project of the Self is
closely related to the political project of democracy as a quest for social harmony.
This is in light of the view that social conflict can be seen as a collective
manifestation of individual struggles to establish inner harmony.
The paper, firstly, explores the idea that the quest for harmony is an intersubjective,
as well as an intra-subjective, undertaking. This is in line with the
Gandhian principle that societies ultimately reflect the level of enlightenment
of the actors who form them. It also critiques the use of violence as a means of
securing transformative harmony and social change. Finally, the paper discusses
the way in which transformative harmony, in terms of its focus on the Self as the
site for attaining the type of altered consciousness required to bring about social
change, shares a philosophical basis with both ideas of ‘deep democracy’ and
Habermasian discourse ethics. It is proposed that the project of transformative
harmony represents, by default, a project to transform democratic praxis.
Keywords: Harmony, politics, ethics, rights, duties, Gandhi, democracy, risk