I have been thinking more about nonviolent strategy and have concluded I need to disavow a statement I wrote in an earlier post : "Gelderloos argues, correctly, than nonviolence is not a strategy. But still, there are such things as nonviolent strategies --strategies that, among other things, do not include the use of violence." But nonviolence can , in fact, be a strategy. In my earlier remark, I was implicitly accepting Gelderloos' operating understanding of nonviolence as simply any tactic that did not include violence. I was asleep at the switch. Nonviolence is a strategy when it is consciously employed; when the strategy only ...
Read Full Story
On the weekend a friend sent a link to a clip of Pete Seeger singing at the pre-inaugural concert in front of the Lincoln Memorial January 18, along with the truly wonderful idea of nominating Seeger for a Nobel Peace Prize. I can’t think of an American who deserves it more at the moment. What a grand way to recognize the best in American culture: its rich musical heritage, its free-thinking critical side, its perserverance. As it happens, last weekend we also celebrated the 80th birthday of Doris Ingerman, one of the world’s niftier souls with whom I went to see Seeger campaign for ...
Read Full Story
This is a continuation of my review of Peter Gelderloos' 2007 book, How Nonviolence Protects the State (see Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3 and Part 4 ). Here I will consider some of the arguments offered in Chapter 5, "Nonviolence Is Tactically and Strategically Inferior." After a long and somewhat fuzzy-headed lecture on the difference between goals, strategies, and tactics, Gelderloos suggests that nonviolent practitioners focus too much on tactics, while remaining vague and confused on the level of strategy. (Gelderloos argues, correctly, than nonviolence is not a strategy. But still, there are such things as nonviolent strategies --strategies that, among ...
Read Full Story
This is a continuation of my review of Peter Gelderloos' 2007 book, How Nonviolence Protects the State . In the first part, I critiqued the opening chapter of this provocative work, concluding that Gelderloos failed to prove that nonviolence is ineffective (which is the title of the chapter). He depends on the ineffectiveness of nonviolence as the ultimate reason to eschew it, and the rest of his claims--about it being racistist, statist, patriarchal and so on--are built on this foundation. Having failed in establishing this foundation, the rest of his case is significantly weakened. Now I shall turn to the claims of his second ...
Read Full Story
Wikizines are interactive magazines that anyone can create or edit - and this one is called "Stop the Violence". Here you can find fresh voices and respond in real time. Some members write articles about recent news and trends related to the wikizine's topic, others recount relevant personal stories or share their favorite pictures and video clips. Got an interesting idea or story to share with other members of this wikizine? Well, then put on your journalist's cap and add your own article!
Read Full Story
