Nonviolence…
● Nonviolence struggle is thus more intense and difficult than its violent counterpart.
● As violent responses validate the original attacker, the nonviolence tactic invalidates
Newton’s first law of motion!
● Nonviolent practitioners practice a kind of moral judo - the attacker’s energy is
redirected, knocking him or her off balance.
● Henry David Thoreau, Leo Tolstoy , Edna St. Vincent Millay
Nonviolence in Practice
● Martin Luther King, Jr., “Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding
deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness;
only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
● Strategies for nonviolence include matches; boycotts; picketing; leafleting; strikes’ civil
disobedience; the peaceful occupation of various government facilities; vigils and fasts;
mass imprisonment; tax resistance; and a willingness to be abused by the authorities
and yet to respond nonviolently, with courage and determination, even politeness.
Nonviolence continued
● Contrary to Lenin that “to achieve our ends, we will unite even with the Devil”, as the
cases of Somoza in Nicaragua, Marcos in the Philippines, Chun doo Hwan in South
Korea, Pinochet in Chile, Duvalier in Haiti, the Shah in Iran, Suharto in Indonesia, Botha
in South Africa - in the interest of a presumed greater good, the defeat or containment of
international communism has not brought about peace!
● Perhaps in answer to Cicero’s question to his friends “What can be done against force,
without force?
● Plenty should be the response by Nonviolence advocates!
Nonviolence continued
● Seeks to persuade all parties to a conflict that acting in harmony and love provides
greater gains than persevering in discord and violence
● A goal of peace can only be achieved through the use of nonviolence
● The interdependence of means and ends entails that nonviolence is the only strategy.
Nonviolence: an option for ending terrorism and other forms of violence?
● “Nonviolence is a definite, defiant, hardheaded strategy of social transformation.”
● Nonviolence is not passivity
● Mohandas Gandhi “Satyagraha”, a Sanskrit concept meaning “soul-force” or “soul-truth”.
It is characterized by courage, directness, friendly civility, absolute honesty, respect for
other living creatures, and willingness to suffer in pursuit of deeply felt goals.
● Devotees of nonviolence seek to resolve conflict at its source rather than to defeat or
annihilate the opponent
Structural Violence
● Cold war → dictatorship → structural violence
● Nonviolence struggle is thus more intense and difficult than its violent counterpart.
● As violent responses validate the original attacker, the nonviolence tactic invalidates
Newton’s first law of motion!
● Nonviolent practitioners practice a kind of moral judo - the attacker’s energy is
redirected, knocking him or her off balance.
● Henry David Thoreau, Leo Tolstoy , Edna St. Vincent Millay
Nonviolence in Practice
● Martin Luther King, Jr., “Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding
deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness;
only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
● Strategies for nonviolence include matches; boycotts; picketing; leafleting; strikes’ civil
disobedience; the peaceful occupation of various government facilities; vigils and fasts;
mass imprisonment; tax resistance; and a willingness to be abused by the authorities
and yet to respond nonviolently, with courage and determination, even politeness.
Nonviolence continued
● Contrary to Lenin that “to achieve our ends, we will unite even with the Devil”, as the
cases of Somoza in Nicaragua, Marcos in the Philippines, Chun doo Hwan in South
Korea, Pinochet in Chile, Duvalier in Haiti, the Shah in Iran, Suharto in Indonesia, Botha
in South Africa - in the interest of a presumed greater good, the defeat or containment of
international communism has not brought about peace!
● Perhaps in answer to Cicero’s question to his friends “What can be done against force,
without force?
● Plenty should be the response by Nonviolence advocates!
Nonviolence continued
● Seeks to persuade all parties to a conflict that acting in harmony and love provides
greater gains than persevering in discord and violence
● A goal of peace can only be achieved through the use of nonviolence
● The interdependence of means and ends entails that nonviolence is the only strategy.
Nonviolence: an option for ending terrorism and other forms of violence?
● “Nonviolence is a definite, defiant, hardheaded strategy of social transformation.”
● Nonviolence is not passivity
● Mohandas Gandhi “Satyagraha”, a Sanskrit concept meaning “soul-force” or “soul-truth”.
It is characterized by courage, directness, friendly civility, absolute honesty, respect for
other living creatures, and willingness to suffer in pursuit of deeply felt goals.
● Devotees of nonviolence seek to resolve conflict at its source rather than to defeat or
annihilate the opponent
Structural Violence
● Cold war → dictatorship → structural violence
