Nonviolence

This essay discusses whether civil disobedience is an option for Christians in light of Paul's teaching in Romans 13. Using canonical and rhetorical criticism, and including a very brief section noting some important examples in the history of interpretation, the essay concludes that Romans 13 does not preclude the possibility of civil disobedience for Christians. The essay does not discuss the conditions under which civil disobedience might be right or necessary, though it does outline some theological and moral boundaries that mark faithful Christian civil disobedience.

One of the most deeply ingrained and most often bemoaned patterns in modern fantasy is its propensity to project violence as a solution. The tacit or explicit glorifi­cation of " rightful " violence has usually been accompanied by a host of attitudes that promulgate war as the basic metaphor of group activity. Yet, human interac­tion can also be described by metaphors of peace and through stories in which characters employ means other than violence to deal with aggression and situ­ations of hurt. Focusing on Nancy Farmer's The Saxon Saga—The Sea of Trolls (2004), The Land of the Silver Apples (2007) and The Island of the Blessed (2009)— this essay examines the metaphors of peace Farmer employs to suggest that the work of peace requires a whole new way of looking at the world. Although the novels are set in a world torn by violent conflicts, they offer compelling alternatives to violence. Through the adventures of the protagonist Jack, the servant of the life­ force and a mediator between three different cultures, readers are invited to appreciate the idea that non­violent means can be highly effective as regards stan­ding up against evil and achieving the greater good.

The message of peace and nonviolence was believed in the early church until the claim of Constantine's vision was endorsed by Eusebius and Lactantius. Scriptures and quotes from early church writers are reviewed, and thought questions challenge the reader.

This paper begins with a brief historical overview of the Australian movement against uranium mining, before focussing on two major campaigns: Roxby and Jabiluka. It describes the reasons the activists gave at the time for their blockades of the Roxby Downs uranium mine in South Australia in 1983 and 1984. These reasons – such as perceptions that the industry is unsafe - have changed little over time, and were the basis for the campaign against the proposed Jabiluka mine in the Northern Territory in 1998. They continue to be cited by environmental groups and Aboriginal Traditional Owners to this day as new situations arise, such as the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident. The paper then describes how the movement evolved between the Roxby and Jabiluka blockades, with changes to the movement’s philosophy, strategy, tactics and internal dynamics. This analysis includes a comparison between two anti-nuclear bike rides, one a year after the 1984 Roxby blockade and involving some of ...

The history of civil resistance in Italy is almost unknown beyond its frontiers. The iftieth anniversary of the Liberation in 1995 was the occasion to learn about a new historiography that emphasized the existence of an unarmed struggle
against the German occupation that gave prominence to women and underlined the importance of fostering social awareness and cohesion to face the barbarity of war. This historiography made possible relativizing the key role given to armed struggle for the Liberation cause and paved the way for discussing the potential of an unarmed civil defense.

Few subjects are as widely discussed in religious circles as War and Peace. Yet, as followers of Christ, we live in a world order run by sinners under the dominion of the Devil himself. Even so, religious people debate and argue over this multifaceted issue as if there is a more righteous position, condemning the world to its own trajectory. These positions range from Augustine's "Just Cause" to what is thought to be higher-minded notions like "Non-Resistance", "Non-Violence," or "Pacifism." As is usual, I will take you on a path right between all the thinking factions to present something that transcends the boundaries of the argument. I want to raise a more provocative thought as it relates to people whose aim it is to follow Christ and who see their citizenship to a different realm, yet while they live in this one.

Points out how religion is power; power will be used by others--even the non-religious; when things go awry, then, religion is then blamed, often by the same ones who have exploited its power. This calls for critical and wary analysis of the rhetorical use of religion as a pawn, followed by its being blamed as a scapegoat.  Published in The Destructive Power of Religion; Violence in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, edited by J. Harold Ellens (4 volumes, Westport/London: Praeger Publishers, 2004), Vol. 2, 265-83.

Despite much evidence of its effectiveness, nonviolence has not gained widespread recognition by the media (Summy, 2000, pp. 4-5), with the success of campaigns being attributed to their leaders or some ill-defined “people power”. Similarly, the arts feature in many nonviolent campaigns, yet have gained little credence as an effective tool of nonviolence. They are often mentioned in the media; for example, at the 1979 anti-logging protest at Terania Creek, NSW, the Good Weekend reported that ‘…bead-wearing hippies and rainbow greenies… blocked the road and played flutes, mandolins and drums. They danced, sang, wailed and chanted to the frustrated police and furious loggers wielding chainsaws and still cutting down huge trees’ (Hawley, 2003, p. 19). Yet these arts have rarely been studied in depth, particularly with regard to how they accord with nonviolence praxis. Even within protest movements some do not consider the arts “frontline” activism. This view continues a dualistic philosophy which views direct confrontation as being the most effective form of social change. It perpetuates the machismo of patriarchal politics, and the paradigm condoning violence as an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Many feminists have rightly been critical of such a view (Schmah,1998, pp. 31-33).

This paper argues that the arts are an important part of nonviolence, contributing to campaigns in a myriad of ways. After a literature review, the paper briefly explores tenets of nonviolence that relate to artistic activism. It presents an overview of the relationship between these arts and nonviolence, while noting that more research is needed. It then describes, from an insider or ‘emic’ perspective (Kellehear, 1993, p. 21), examples of arts in nonviolent direct actions (NVDAs), particularly within the broad popular movement which advocates peace and environmental protection, characterised as “eco-pax” by Pakulski (1991, pp. 158-160).

This paper explores the learning that occurs in social protest
movements, in particular the 'ecopax' movement in Australia. The authors bring to bear on their own experiences some of the insights of the academic fields of adult education and peace studies, drawing in particular on the ideas of popular education. They catalogue some of the enormous variety of learning that they themselves have observed and experienced as activists, analysing it in terms of Newman's (1995) categories of instrumental, communicative and emancipatory learning. They argue for more attention to be paid to social movements as important sites of learning; and for greater recognition within education institutions of the knowledge and understandings which people gain from their involvement in protest politics. The paper concludes by linking learning and teaching in the contemporary 'ecopax' movement to the much longer traditions of radical adult education tied to movements for social change,

From 21st March to 25th March 1965, thousands of civil-rights protestors marched down Highway 80 from Selma to Montgomery. Highway 80 acted as a gateway for many Black Americans to vent their frustration with voter rights, especially within southern states. Dr Martin Luther King initiated the marches and chose the Selma to Montgomery March as a testing ground for his black voter registration campaign. These marches ultimately led to vast changes in the way many viewed voter registration and it prompted Congress to pass one of the most important civil rights laws in history. This assignment focuses on how non-violent civil-rights movements can achieve long-lasting change in society and how they have shaped future civil-rights movements. This assignment utilises a variety of different sources including; eyewitness accounts from the bright light of ours: Stories from the voting rights fight, journal articles that include picturing equality: Exploring Civil Rights’ Marches through Photographs,  and a selection of books written about the events that transpired. In terms of theoretical approaches, this assignment encompasses a multiplicity of social movement theories including, deprivation theory, political process theory (PPT) and structural strain theory. These theories confirm how non-violent movements engender long-lasting change in society.

El libro explica la paz de forma sencilla e invita a la acción. Parte de cincuenta retos relacionados con los conflictos armados y la paz —como el gasto militar y los ejércitos, los efectos de las armas, la explotación de recursos naturales, las condiciones mínimas para la paz, la educación para la paz o el apoyo a activistas pacifistas—. En cada uno de estos retos propone acciones concretas, desde las más fáciles a otras más complejas, para contribuir a resolverlos. Además, presenta personas y movimientos pacifistas destacados, ejemplos de éxitos reales, información y recursos para saber más.
(Versión borrador del libro publicado en catarata. Para obtener una copia del libro en papel, remitirse a: https://www.catarata.org/libro/122-acciones-faciles-y-dificiles-para-la-paz_46022/)

Many contemporary Jains assert that the ancient tradition of Jainism is compatible with modern science. Some authors specifically attempt to demonstrate the early evolutionary insights of “Jaina biology” which, when compared to Darwin’s 19th-century theory, may be partial, implicit, resonate with “Darwinian expressions,” or offer a corrective to Darwin’s account by redefining certain aspects of evolution altogether. 

In this presentation, I explore three strategic arguments contemporary Jain authors have made for their tradition’s compatibility with Darwin’s theory of evolution, namely that the Jain view posits (1) biological resonances and epistemic flexibility, (2) the evolution of consciousness explained through karmic variation, and (3) the exceptional possibility of human omniscience. I will highlight persistent challenges within these arguments that undermine any easy comparison between the Jain worldview and Darwin’s theory. 

The Jain tradition does not speak in one voice regarding modern science. However, as Jain communities move and develop into new contexts with fresh concerns beyond ancient orthodoxies, we find a proliferation of divergent responses to claims such as Darwin’s theory of evolution that keep the Jain tradition alive and changing in its own right.

Telecommunications do not simply rearrange information and ideas in space, they also alter the balance of power in social struggles. Although it supports centralization of power and capital, subordinated groups can achieve certain goals by exploiting the existing telecommunication infrastructure. This tactic is geographical in that it refuses to accept the territorial boundaries fundamental to established systems of domination. Protest is therefore a politics of scale. Examination of these scale politics in China, the Philippines and the USA indicates that distant bystanders may or may not be of assistance to protesters, and that the media affect but do not determine the course of events. The protest in China does not yet appear to have succceeded; that in the Philippines did not solve long-term problems; while the US protest brought political but not economic power to a racial minority. Regardless of their success, these protests show new terrains of struggle not yet acknowledged by geography.

Intellettuali a confronto sul tema della violenza e la nonviolenza in Sicilia. Trattasi di un articolo redatto in occasione di un convegno su Danilo Dolci organizzato da alcune associazioni all'Università di Torino per la giornata mondiale della nonviolenza (ottobre 2013), pubblicato in seguito in Meridiana. Rivista di storia e scienze sociali, n° 78/ 2013.

This essay argues that the center of Quaker Faith and Practice is the immediacy of Christ; connected to the center are convictions regarding authentic worship, universal ministry, incarnational sacramentology, nonviolent peacemaking, consensus decision making and a witness to simplicity.

With a foreword by Mahatma Gandhi's grandson Arun Gandhi, President of the M K Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, Nonviolent Communication is not specifically a Buddhist book, but it is an interesting exposition of the principles and techniques of non-violent communication. Rosenberg's approach is to teach people to reframe confrontational encounters and to replace old patterns of defending, withdrawing or attacking in the face of criticism and judgement. He trained originally as a psychoanalytic psychotherapist but was later influenced by the work of the humanistic psychologist Carl Rogers. He has developed training in non-violent communication that is widely used in the United States, Europe, Palestine, Israel and major conflict centres such as Rwanda to help opposing individuals and groups to conduct a dialogue with one another.
Where Rosenberg's approach sits easily with Buddhist practice is his emphasis on changing our interior state of being as a prelude to entering into dialogue with others. From our inner state, he moves to the use of language, advocating language that empathizes with the 'other' in any dialogue, whether between parent and adolescent, opposing religious or ethnic factions, management and staff, teachers and pupils, prisoners and prison staff, or different interest groups in a hospital setting. His approach is set out the in a text as a series of steps of observing a situation without evaluating, identifying and experiencing one's feelings in relation to the situation and taking responsibility for them rather than blaming others for them, expressing one's needs clearly so that the other party can understand them and practising empathy and compassion towards others and their needs.
The focus of the book is on clarity and on recognizing our reactions to situations as the source of distress rather than the situations themselves. This is a valuable book. The only qualification is that the examples of non-violent communication are geared towards American readers and would need to be rephrased for a European readership.

This article seeks to explain the failure of the 2012–14 Kuwaiti reform movement Karamet Watan. We compare Karamet Watan with two previous reform movements in Kuwait: Nabiha Khamsa in 2006 and Irhal in 2011. All three movements were nonviolent, which Erica Chenoweth and Maria Stephan have shown to be associated with the success of reform movements. We argue that Karamet Watan differed from the earlier movements in its choice of goals; its choice of tactics, especially the boycott of parliamentary elections; and the regional context. Our findings help illustrate the challenges facing political reform movements in Ku-wait, the obstacles to further movement toward greater political participation, and the conditions under which reform might succeed in the future.

In this paper, I integrate key developments into a “just peace” moral analysis and argue for the Catholic Church to also develop and embrace a “just peace” approach. First, I describe present Catholic social teaching and the present threads I see related to just peace. Second, I describe the ecumenical turns to just peace and Glen Stassen’s just peacemaking, which has similarities to present Catholic social teaching. Third, I offer a critical analysis of Catholic social teaching and just peacemaking to propose a turn to a freshly integrated “just peace” approach.

Political and social movements in South Africa, the United States of America, Germany, Myanmar, India, and elsewhere, have drawn inspiration from the non-violent political techniques advocated by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi during his leadership of the anti-colonial struggle for Indian freedom from British colonial rule. This course charts a global history of Gandhi's thought about non-violence and its expression in civil disobedience and resistance movements both in India and the world. Organized in three modules, the first situates Gandhi through consideration of the diverse sources of his own historical and ideological formation; the second examines the historical contexts and practices through which non-violence acquired meaning for him and considers important critiques; the third explores the various afterlives of Gandhian politics in movements throughout the world. We will examine autobiography and biography, Gandhi's collected works, various types of primary source, political, social, and intellectual history, and audiovisual materials. In addition to widely disseminated narratives of Gandhi as a symbol of non-violence, the course will closely attend to the deep contradictions concerning race, caste, gender, and class that characterized his thought and action. By unsettling conventional accounts of his significance, we will grapple with the problem of how to make sense of his troubled legacy.

The "Crescent and Dove: Peace and Conflict Resolution in Islam" is now available in Urdu. Dr. Muhammad Khalid Masud wrote the preface on its important contribution to the field of religion, peace, and conflict resolution in Urdu language. Revised articles, new introduction by Dr. Qamar-ul Huda, and appendices. Published by Emel Publications in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Although principles of nonviolence have been applied in sociopolitical arenas, they can also be helpful in understanding intimate partner relationships. This is because couples who handle conflict in a constructive way are often using techniques and ideas congruent with nonviolent philosophies. Relationships that handle conflict by becoming aggressive could potentially apply principles of nonviolence to help them address problems in constructive ways. The purpose of this study was to explore qualitative data that described intimate partner dynamics (including conflict, violence, appraisals, and safety) to better understand how individuals apply principles of nonviolence in their partnerships to achieve healthier relationship outcomes. Three qualitative data sets were analyzed using grounded theory methodology. From this secondary analysis, emerged categories and concepts that illustrate the ways couples demonstrate nonviolence principles in these relationships. The first main category was awareness, which included accountability, reflection, commitment, and justice. The second category was action, which included the concepts of authenticity, resistance, repair, and care. These are shown in a process model that in undergirded by the category of context, which includes interaction, gender/culture, and family of origin. Implications for clinical practice and research are provided.

In the early 1960s, thousands of Black activists used nonviolent direct action to challenge segregation at lunch counters, movie theaters, skating rinks, public pools, and churches across the United States, battling for, and winning, social change. Organizers against segregation had used litigation and protests for decades but not until the advent of nonviolence did they succeed in transforming ingrained patterns of white supremacy on a massive scale. In this book, Anthony C. Siracusa unearths the deeper lineage of anti-war pacifist activists and thinkers from the early twentieth century who developed nonviolence into a revolutionary force for Black liberation.
Telling the story of how this powerful political philosophy came to occupy a central place in the Black freedom movement by 1960, Siracusa challenges the idea that nonviolent freedom practices faded with the rise of the Black Power movement. He asserts nonviolence's staying power, insisting that the indwelling commitment to struggle for freedom collectively in a spirit of nonviolence became, for many, a lifelong commitment. In the end, what was revolutionary about the nonviolent method was its ability to assert the basic humanity of Black Americans, to undermine racism's dehumanization, and to insist on the right to be.

From the Publisher's abstract:

Through an original and close reading of the key literature regarding both revolutionary violence and nonviolence, this book collapses the widely-assumed concepts of violence and nonviolence as mutually exclusive. By revealing that violence and nonviolence are braided concepts arising from human action, Peyman Vahabzadeh submits that in many cases the actions deemed to be either violent or nonviolent might actually produce outcomes that are not essentially different.

Vahabzadeh offers a conceptual phenomenology of the key thinkers and theorists of both revolutionary violence and various approaches to nonviolence. Arguing that violence is inseparable from civilizations, Violence and Nonviolence concludes by making a number of original conceptualizations regarding the relationship between violence and nonviolence, exploring the possibility of a nonviolent future and proposing to understand the relationship between the two concepts as concentric, not opposites.

Pacifism is often painted into a corner as an absolute rejection of all violence and war. Such a dogmatic and negative formulation of pacifism does leave us with pacifism as a morally problematic position. But pacifism is not best understood as a negative claim. Nor is pacifism best understood as a singular or monistic concept. Rather, there is a "pacifist tradition" that is grounded in an affirmative claim about the importance of nonviolence, love, community building, and peaceful conflict resolution. This more positive conception of pacifism aims to transform social and political life. When understood in this way, pacifism is a robust and useful critical social theory. This paper explores the philosophy of pacifism in an attempt to reconceptualize pacifism as a tradition of normative critical theory. The paper argues that pacifism ought to be understood on analogy with other critical theories-such as feminism; that pacifism should be understood in terms of the "pacifist tradition"-along lines familiar from interpretations of the "just war tradition"; and that pacifism should be seen as offering interesting themes and ideas that are worthy of philosophical attention.