The Power of Non-Violence

And so at the center of our movement stood the philosophy of love. The attitude that the only way to ultimately change humanity and make for the society that we all long for is to keep love at the center of our lives. Now people used to ask me from the beginning what do you mean by love and how is it that you can tell us to love those persons who seek to defeat us and those persons who stand against us; how can you love such persons? And I had to make it clear all along that love in its highest sense is not a sentimental sort of thing, not even an affectionate sort of thing.

The Greek language uses three words for love. It talks about eros. Eros is a sort of aesthetic love. It has come to us to be a sort of romantic love and it stands with all of its beauty. The Greek language talks about philia and this is a sort of reciprocal love between personal friends.

This is a vital, valuable love. But when we talk of loving those who oppose you and those who seek to defeat you we are not talking about eros or philia. The Greek language comes out with another word and it is agape. Agape is understanding, creative, redemptive good will for all men. Biblical theologians would say it is the love of God working in the minds of men. It is an overflowing love which seeks nothing in return.

And when you come to love on this level you begin to love men not because they are likeable, not because they do things that attract us, but because God loves them and here we love the person who does the evil deed while hating the deed that the person does. It is the type of love that stands at the center of the movement that we are trying to carry on in the Southland— agape. I am quite aware of the fact that there are persons who believe firmly in nonviolence who do not believe in a personal God, but I think every person who believes in nonviolent resistance believes somehow that the universe in some form is on the side of justice.

That there is something unfolding in the universe whether one speaks of it as a unconscious process, or whether one speaks of it as some unmoved mover, or whether someone speaks of it as a personal God. There is something in the universe that unfolds for justice and so in Montgomery we felt somehow that as we struggled we had cosmic companionship.

And this was one of the things that kept the people together, the belief that the universe is on the side of justice. God grant that as men and women all over the world struggle against evil systems they will struggle with love in their hearts, with understanding good will.

Agape says you must go on with wise restraint and calm reasonableness but you must keep moving.

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We have a great opportunity in America to build here a great nation, a nation where all men live together as brothers and respect the dignity and worth of all human personality. We must keep moving toward that goal.

I know that some people are saying we must slow up. They are saying we must adopt a policy of moderation. Now if moderation means moving on with wise restraint and calm reasonableness, then moderation is a great virtue that all men of good will must seek to achieve in this tense period of transition.

But if moderation means slowing up in the move for justice and capitulating to the whims and caprices of the guardians of the deadening status quo, then moderation is a tragic vice which all men of good will must condemn. We must continue to move on. Our self—respect is at stake; the prestige of our nation is at stake. Civil rights is an eternal moral issue which may well determine the destiny of our civilization in the ideological struggle with communism. We must keep moving with wise restraint and love and with proper discipline and dignity. Modern psychology has a word that is probably used more than any other word.

The emperors of Sui dynasty , Tang dynasty and early Song dynasty banned killing in Lunar calendar 1st , 5th, and 9th month. Nonviolent action generally comprises three categories: Nonviolent acts of protest and persuasion are symbolic actions performed by a group of people to show their support or disapproval of something.

The goal of this kind of action is to bring public awareness to an issue, persuade or influence a particular group of people, or to facilitate future nonviolent action. The message can be directed toward the public, opponents, or people affected by the issue. Methods of protest and persuasion include speeches, public communications, petitions , symbolic acts, art, processions marches , and other public assemblies.

Noncooperation involves the purposeful withholding of cooperation or the unwillingness to initiate in cooperation with an opponent. The goal of noncooperation is to halt or hinder an industry, political system, or economic process. Methods of noncooperation include labour strikes , economic boycotts , civil disobedience , sex strike , tax refusal , and general disobedience. Compared with protest and noncooperation, nonviolent intervention is a more direct method of nonviolent action. Nonviolent intervention can be used defensively—for example to maintain an institution or independent initiative—or offensively- for example, to drastically forward a nonviolent struggle into the opponent's territory.

Intervention is often more immediate and effective than the other two methods, but is also harder to maintain and more taxing to the participants involved. Gene Sharp , a political scientist who seeks to advance the worldwide study and use of strategic nonviolent action in conflict, has written extensively about the methods of nonviolent action.

In his book Waging Nonviolent Struggle he describes methods of nonviolent action. A modern work of fiction inspired by Gene Sharp and by Aristophanes is A Door into Ocean by Joan Slonczewski , depicting an ocean world inhabited by women who use nonviolent means to repel armed space invaders. Tactics must be carefully chosen, taking into account political and cultural circumstances, and form part of a larger plan or strategy. Successful nonviolent cross-border intervention projects include the Guatemala Accompaniment Project, [] Peace Brigades International and Christian Peacemaker Teams.

Developed in the early s, and originally inspired by the Gandhian Shanti Sena , the primary tools of these organisations have been nonviolent protective accompaniment, backed up by a global support network which can respond to threats, local and regional grassroots diplomatic and peacebuilding efforts, human rights observation and witnessing, and reporting.

Individual and large group cases of interpositioning, when called for, have been remarkably effective in dampening conflict and saving lives. Another powerful tactic of nonviolent intervention invokes public scrutiny of the oppressors as a result of the resisters remaining nonviolent in the face of violent repression.

If the military or police attempt to repress nonviolent resisters violently, the power to act shifts from the hands of the oppressors to those of the resisters. If the resisters are persistent, the military or police will be forced to accept the fact that they no longer have any power over the resisters. Often, the willingness of the resisters to suffer has a profound effect on the mind and emotions of the oppressor, leaving them unable to commit such a violent act again.

Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism , Pacifist Socialist Party or War Resisters League have advocated nonviolent revolution as an alternative to violence as well as elitist reformism. This perspective is usually connected to militant anti-capitalism. Many leftist and socialist movements have hoped to mount a "peaceful revolution" by organising enough strikers to completely paralyse the state and corporate apparatus, allowing workers to re-organise society along radically different lines.

Ernesto Che Guevara , Leon Trotsky , Frantz Fanon and Subhas Chandra Bose were fervent critics of nonviolence, arguing variously that nonviolence and pacifism are an attempt to impose the morals of the bourgeoisie upon the proletariat , that violence is a necessary accompaniment to revolutionary change or that the right to self-defense is fundamental. Note, for example, the complaint of Malcolm X that "I believe it's a crime for anyone being brutalized to continue to accept that brutality without doing something to defend himself.

George Orwell argued that the nonviolent resistance strategy of Gandhi could be effective in countries with "a free press and the right of assembly", which could make it possible "not merely to appeal to outside opinion, but to bring a mass movement into being, or even to make your intentions known to your adversary"; but he was skeptical of Gandhi's approach being effective in the opposite sort of circumstances.

Reinhold Niebuhr similarly affirmed Gandhi's approach while criticising aspects of it. He argued, "The advantage of non-violence as a method of expressing moral goodwill lies in the fact that it protects the agent against the resentments which violent conflict always creates in both parties to a conflict, and it proves this freedom of resentment and ill-will to the contending party in the dispute by enduring more suffering than it causes. It presupposes the existence of compassion and a sense of justice on the part of one's adversary.

When this adversary has everything to lose and nothing to gain by exercising justice and compassion, his reaction can only be negative. Malcolm X also clashed with civil rights leaders over the issue of nonviolence, arguing that violence should not be ruled out if no option remained. In his book How Nonviolence Protects the State , anarchist Peter Gelderloos criticises nonviolence as being ineffective, racist, statist, patriarchal, tactically and strategically inferior to militant activism, and deluded.

The efficacy of nonviolence was also challenged by some anti-capitalist protesters advocating a " diversity of tactics " during street demonstrations across Europe and the US following the anti-World Trade Organization protests in Seattle, Washington in American feminist writer D. Clarke , in her essay "A Woman With A Sword," suggests that for nonviolence to be effective, it must be "practiced by those who could easily resort to force if they chose. Nonviolence advocates see some truth in this argument: Gandhi himself said often that he could teach nonviolence to a violent person but not to a coward and that true nonviolence came from renouncing violence, not by not having any to renounce.

Advocates responding to criticisms of the efficacy of nonviolence point to the success of non-violent struggles even against the Nazi regimes in Denmark and even in Berlin.

The Power of Non-Violence (Pacifism): Richard B. Gregg: www.newyorkethnicfood.com: Books

A study finds that "increasing levels of globalization are positively associated with the emergence of nonviolent campaigns, while negatively influencing the probability of violent campaigns. Integration into the world increases the popularity of peaceful alternatives to achieve political goals. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. For the monument and memorial to peace, see Non-Violence sculpture. This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. Nonviolence organizations Anti-war Mahavira: Interpersonal Communication , 9th ed.

Harcourt Brace College Publishers, p. Turpin, Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace, and Conflict , p. It is seen as a powerful tool for redressing social inequality.

The Power of Non-violence

Burstein and Richard Shek: Holt, Rinhart and Winston, As Chavez once explained, "Nonviolence is not inaction. It is not for the timid or the weak. It is hard work, it is the patience to win. Archived from the original on Archived from the original on 20 July Journal of Aggression, Conflict and Peace Research. Sundararajan and Bithika Mukerji Ed. Nonviolence to animals, earth and self in Asian Traditions see Chapter 1.

The Politics of Nonviolent Action. Project Gutenberg, see translation for Yajurveda Bodewitz in Jan E.

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BRILL, page Cambridge University Press, , page Shanti, peacefulness of mind. Empathy for Pain in Vedic Ritual. Classical traditions and contemporary challenges, Editors: Ecological Nonviolence and the Hindu Tradition. In Perspectives on Nonviolence pp. To do no harm Subramuniyaswami, What is Hinduism? Her Twin Strengths in Himsa and Ahimsa. The Concept in Hinduism of 'Just War'. In Perspectives on Nonviolence pages — Hindu Traditions and Nature: Jain , p. Walters and Lisa Portmess, Albany , p.

The Jains , second edition, London , p. Ahimsa and Compassion in Jainism , in: Studies in Jaina History and Culture , ed. A History of Indian Buddhism , Meerut , p. The Violence of Non-Violence: Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 15 pp. Conservation of Vegetation and Jain Philosophy , in: Culture and Environment , New Delhi , p. A Social Survey , second edition, Bombay , p. Upadesharasayana 26; Dundas pp. Ahimsa and "Just War" in Jainism , in: Ahimsa, Anekanta and Jainism , ed. Tara Sethia, New Delhi , p. Critical Concepts in Religious Studies.

Great Disciples of the Buddha: The Spirit of the Buddha. Raaflaub, War and Peace in the Ancient World. Blackwell Publishing, , p. Continuum, , pages — Full texts of the sutta: Curzon Press , page See also page The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A New Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya. Wisdom Publications, , pages 60, , see also Bartholomeusz page Revolution and the Party in Gramsci's Thought: Reflections on Gandhi , Partisan Review, January The Prison Letters of George Jackson.

Lawrence Hill Books, At Home in Diaspora. U of Minnesota Press, How Nonviolence Protects the State. South End Press , A History of Libertarian Ideas and Movements.

Nonviolence

Finally, somewhat aside from the curve that runs from anarchist individualism to anarcho-syndicalism, we come to Tolstoyanism and to pacifist anarchism that appeared, mostly in the Netherlands , Britain , and the United states, before and after the Second World War and which has continued since then in the deep in the anarchist involvement in the protests against nuclear armament. Columbia University Press, A comparative analysis of nonviolent and violent campaigns".

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