nonviolence
Quick Summary
Nonviolence is the principled opposition to war and violence as a means of settling disputes. It is a philosophy and tactic used in social movements, including the American civil rights movement, to achieve change without resorting to aggression.12
Key aspects of nonviolence include:
* Refusal to obey: Civil disobedience involves refusing to obey laws or commands without using violence.2
* Moral example: Protesters submit to punishment to set a moral example and provoke change.2
* Strategic application: Nonviolent resistance, as developed by figures like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., relies on the difficulties created for oppressors by a refusal to cooperate.23
While nonviolence has been a powerful tool for social change, its effectiveness can depend on the opponent's willingness to engage with moral principles.21
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anarchismRussian anarchist thoughtAlthough the individualism and nonviolence implicit in Proudhon’s vision have survived in peripheral currents of the anarchist tradition, Bakunin’s stress on collectivism and violent revolutionary action dominated mainstream anarchism from the days of the First International down to the destruction of anarchism as a mass movement at the end…
Read MoreAlthough the individualism and nonviolence implicit in Proudhon’s vision have survived in peripheral currents of the anarchist tradition, Bakunin’s stress on collectivism and violent revolutionary action dominated mainstream anarchism from the days of the First International down to the destruction of anarchism as a mass movement at the end…
Read More- anarchismAnarchism in the Americas
…States, a native and mainly nonviolent tradition of anarchism developed during the 19th century in the writings of Henry David Thoreau, Josiah Warren, Lysander Spooner, Joseph Labadie, and above all Benjamin Tucker. An early advocate of women’s suffrage, religious tolerance, and fair labour legislation, Tucker combined Warren’s ideas on labour…
Read More…States, a native and mainly nonviolent tradition of anarchism developed during the 19th century in the writings of Henry David Thoreau, Josiah Warren, Lysander Spooner, Joseph Labadie, and above all Benjamin Tucker. An early advocate of women’s suffrage, religious tolerance, and fair labour legislation, Tucker combined Warren’s ideas on labour…
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ethicsIndia…highest of all goals and nonviolence as the means of attaining it. In true philosophical manner, the Jains found in the principle of nonviolence a guide to all morality. First, apart from the obvious application to prohibiting violent acts directed at other humans, nonviolence is extended to all living things.…
Read More…highest of all goals and nonviolence as the means of attaining it. In true philosophical manner, the Jains found in the principle of nonviolence a guide to all morality. First, apart from the obvious application to prohibiting violent acts directed at other humans, nonviolence is extended to all living things.…
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JainismJain ethics…based on the doctrine of nonviolence (ahimsa). Because thought gives rise to action, violence in thought merely precedes violent behaviour.
Read More…based on the doctrine of nonviolence (ahimsa). Because thought gives rise to action, violence in thought merely precedes violent behaviour.
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Mahatma Gandhi…esteemed for his doctrine of nonviolent protest (satyagraha) to achieve political and social progress.
Read More…esteemed for his doctrine of nonviolent protest (satyagraha) to achieve political and social progress.
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Martin Luther King, Jr.Early years>nonviolence as well as with the thought of contemporary Protestant theologians. He earned a bachelor of divinity degree in 1951. Renowned for his oratorical skills, King was elected president of Crozer’s student body, which was composed almost exclusively of white students. As a professor at…
Read More>nonviolence as well as with the thought of contemporary Protestant theologians. He earned a bachelor of divinity degree in 1951. Renowned for his oratorical skills, King was elected president of Crozer’s student body, which was composed almost exclusively of white students. As a professor at…
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assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.Aftermath and reaction: inner city violence…to honor King’s doctrine of nonviolence.
Read More…to honor King’s doctrine of nonviolence.
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Jawaharlal NehruImprisonment during World War IINehru held that nonviolence had no place in defense against aggression and that India should support Great Britain in a war against Nazism but only as a free country. If it could not help, it should not hinder.
Read MoreNehru held that nonviolence had no place in defense against aggression and that India should support Great Britain in a war against Nazism but only as a free country. If it could not help, it should not hinder.
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