Gene Sharp, "Waging Nonviolent Struggle: 20th Century Practice and 21st Century Potential"

"In a world of many acute conflicts, widespread oppression, and great violence, the technique of nonviolent struggle has considerable potential to be applied with success than ever before in a wide range of situations."

"Waging Nonviolent Struggle" is an in-depth investigation into the power of nonviolent action in various conflicts, and the potential of that power if strategically applied by its participants. The book begins with a brief overview of what is meant by nonviolent struggle (e.g. it has to do with action rather than belief) as well as some misconceptions (e.g. nonviolence does not equate to passivity), how it works against institutions of power, and the various methods, relying greatly on historical instances, of how nonviolent action is and has been practiced. Part two of the book contains historical cases, which Sharp readily admits are examples that were not always successful, not always absent of violence, and often devoid of strategic planning. What these cases provide is an insight into nonviolent struggle in its various forms and against its various opponents, and how these struggles have played out in the past. Part three and four of the book could be said to be the heart of the book, since it provides analysis into the dynamics of nonviolent struggle as well as strategic ways to wage struggle. This book is fascinating in that it provides an academic foundation for study, practice, and future research into how nonviolent struggle can and has been waged, much like one might expect from military science which espouses the methods of violence for engaging in conflicts.

Links:
The Albert Einstein Institution

Citation Information:
Sharp, G. (2005). Waging nonviolent struggle: 20th century practice and 21st century potential. Boston: Extending Horizons Books.

See Also:
Sharp, G. (1973). The politics of nonviolent action, Pt. 1-3. Boston: P. Sargent.

Sharp, G. (2003). From dictatorship to democracy: A conceptual framework for liberation.. Boston: Albert Einstein Institution. (.pdf document)

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., "Why We Can't Wait"

"Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. It is a weapon unique in history which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals."

"Why We Can’t Wait" is a document of the African American struggle in 1964 to gain equality and social justice in a country that promised these gains 100 years prior according to the Emancipation Proclamation. The focus of the book is on Birmingham, Alabama: a city that epitomized the discrimination, segregation, and brutality of racism, as well as the silent indifference of the well-meaning majority. King describes the deliberate strategizing that went into the struggle, of marches and songs of freedom, of sit-ins at various institutions and of boycotts to local businesses. While the opposition in Birmingham violently beat, overpowered with fire hoses, released dogs upon, bombed homes of, and overfilled jails to quell the nonviolent resisters, they did not succumb to the violence perpetrated upon them. The effect of this key moment in a growing movement of discontent was that it reopened old and unhealthy wounds for a renewed healing process in the United States. White America was confronted with an ugly area of its own civil life and needed to answer not only for the overt brutality of fellow citizens, but also for the apathetic negligence of abhorrent social wrongs. King’s descriptions of these events and their rationale display his uncompromising and inspired leadership in a strategic struggle for a future of equality and kinship between all Americans, regardless of differences on the surface of our shared humanity.

Links:
The King Center
MLK Online
Video Footage of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Citation Information:
King, M. L. (1968). Why we can't wait. New York: New American Library.

See Also:
King, M. L., & Carson, C. (1998). The autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: Intellectual Properties Management in association with Warner Books.

King, M. L., & Washington, J. M. (1986). A testament of hope: The essential writings of Martin Luther King, Jr. San Francisco: Harper & Row.

Michael Nagler, "The Search for a Nonviolent Future"

"The task is to create loving community, and the way to understand and address that is through nonviolence. Whoever we are, there is a way to do this."

"The Search for a Nonviolent Future" provides a very deep exploration of nonviolence and its utility for healing and humanizing our modern and violent world. Michael Nagler, a long-time peace scholar and nonviolent activist, reveals stories, incidents and acts of nonviolence that are both constructive (e.g. community building) and obstructive (i.e. nonviolent resistance) in order to show his audience that while nonviolence may not always "work" to produce immediate or expected results, it always works, having "a long-term positive effect on the whole system." The author conceives nonviolence not as an abstract concept, but as an active agent to produce a paradigm shift to replace nonviolence with our very violent, but altogether man-made, present. Such a big idea would seem daunting if it weren't for the action guide provided for the reader to begin on an individual level. The steps recommended include avoiding mass media and replacing its alternatives, taking "care of yourself spiritually," rebuilding kind human relationships, nonviolence education, and actively building peace. This book provides excellent insight for anyone grappling with various aspects of nonviolence, or doubt its simple but powerful meaning.

Links:
PACS 164A: Introduction to Nonviolence - Fall 2006 (Thank you Mike)

Citation Information:
Nagler, M. N. (2004). The search for a nonviolent future: A promise of peace for ourselves, our families, and our world. Maui, Hawai'i: Inner Ocean Publishing.

Barbara Deming, "Prisons That Could Not Hold"

"If we seek a world in which men do the least possible violence to each other (which is to state just the negative of it), then we are committed not simply to avoid violence ourselves, but to try and destroy patterns of violence that already exist."

"Prisons That Could Not Hold" contains writings from two experiences separated by 20 years of experiences, but brought together through Barbara Deming's life as an nonviolent activist for human rights. The first part of the book contains the contemplative writings of Deming while fasting in a jail cell for 27 days in Albany, Georgia with several other like minded people for participating in the Canada-to-Cuba Peace Walk of 1964. Deming's experience in jail, while filled with dirty mattresses, drunken, angry and distressed inmates, and oppressive authority figures, is one of unity, freedom, and love. And not just love for her fellow marchers, but a love for all of humanity, including her immediate oppressors on the other side of her cell's bars. Her noncooperation was not driven by spite, but rather by love and compassion that would not allow her to complacently accept violence, whether through racism, discrimination, or war. The second part of the book describes her experiences during a march of women, from the Seneca Women's Peace Encampment to a missile base in New York, in the form of a letter to a friend. Here we see a bond of women, not to alienate the male gender, but to celebrate a bond that is often neglected in our patriarchal society. What becomes clear in her account is that through nonviolence and loving, cooperative community building, these women were not symbolically marching for peace, they were demonstrating their love and compassion for humanity and the knowledge that violence aided by war and massive death dealing weapons hold the key to humanity's demise.

Citation Information:
Deming, B. (1995). Prisons that could not hold. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press.

See Also:
Deming, B. (1971). Revolution & equilibrium. New York: Grossman.

Deming, B., & Meyerding, J. (1984). We are all part of one another: A Barbara Deming reader. Philadelphia, PA: New Society.

Elise Boulding, "Cultures of Peace: The Hidden Side of History"

"The tendency of planners and policymakers to prepare for worst-case scenarios leaves societies unprepared for the opportunities involved in best-case scenarios. Nevertheless, the longing for peace has not gone away."

"Cultures of Peace" displays the past, present, and potential future for the many disparate societies and lifeforms making up the planet, often lovingly referred to as Gaia. Much of history is told through lenses of violence that perpetuate hierarchical systems of domination and oppression. Historically patriarchal norms have not only caused untold damage to life systems and cultures but are also ingrained in the culture of much of the "One-Third" world. Yet throughout history and up to the present there have been experiments in Utopian ideals and intentional communities, groups and movements that have mobilized for peace, nonviolence, social justice, the environment,etc., and cultures that have maintained peaceable relations both within and without their own social groups. By looking at the history of violence without the glory that is usually associated with it and uncovering the positive and peaceful historical threads that also contribute to our societies, Boulding imagines her own peaceful future for the audience, who she also urges to "reflect, imagine, and write down" their own imaginings. By uncovering a hidden side of history, a history that is full of women, children, minorities, indigenous peoples, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and grassroots organizations to name a few, Boulding has created a book of reference that provides an academic yet accessible look into an oft overlooked subject.

Citation Information:
Boulding, E. (2000). Cultures of peace: The hidden side of history. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.

See Also:
Morrison, M. L. (2005). Elise Boulding: A life in the cause of peace. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co.

Dorothy Day, "Loaves and Fishes"

"We were trying to overcome hatred with love, to understand the forces that made men what they are, to learn something of their backgrounds, their education to change them, if possible, from lions into lambs. It was a practice in loving, a learning to love, a paying of the cost of love."

"Loaves and Fishes" is Dorothy Day's account of the origins and growth of the Catholic Worker; a movement, a way of life, and a radical newspaper which she helped found along with Peter Maurin, whose ideologies, teachings, and livelihood she recounts as integral to the Workers' inspiration. The community, or rather the "slipshod group of individuals" as Day described the Workers to a future associate, came together for various individual reasons but stayed together to bring works of mercy to all of those in need. Some would stay for only a short period of time, while others would stay for the duration of their lives, all of whom were given the opportunity to commit their lives to a cause greater than themselves and be surrounded by a community full of faith and love. Day recounts myriad stories from hospitality houses and communal farms in New York, time spent prison for her public refusal to participate in mandatory air raid drills, and her day to day experiences with fellow Workers, patrons, poets, and priests. This work is a document, told in the most humble of voices, of voluntary poverty, pacifism, and endless love for her fellow man, founded in an unshakable faith.

Citation Information:
Day, D. (1997). Loaves and fishes. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books.

Links:
The Catholic Worker

See Also:
Day, D. (1981). The long loneliness: The autobiography of Dorothy Day. San Francisco: Harper & Row.

Day, D., & Sicius, F. J. (2004). Peter Maurin: Apostle to the world. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books.

Mahatma Gandhi, "All Men Are Brothers"

"Love is the strongest force the world possesses and yet it is the humblest imaginable."

Originally published by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), "All Men Are Brothers" is a compilation of Gandhi's writings that attempt to illuminate his lifelong experiment in seeking out truth and practicing it through nonviolence (or more specifically, ahimsa. The book contains Gandhi's autobiographical accounts and views regarding various temporal topics, all of which come under the auspices of Ghandi's philosophy and acts of ahimsa. One of the major strengths of this particular compilation is that it does not delve too deeply, providing an unfamiliar reader with a brief and broad foundation into Ghandi's life. What becomes clear from reading his excerpts and quotes is that Gandhi’s life was his message. Through discipline and faith in ahimsa, Gandhi was able to actively oppose oppressive forces while at the same time loving the humanity of the actors behind the oppression. Although much of his work was aimed at nonviolent resistance, his lifelong experiment in practicing ahimsa was also a constructive force for the loving community that he hoped one day to help build. "All Men Are Brothers" provides a brief glimpse into the life of an extraordinary man and acts as a call to action for those seeking community built on a foundation of love, truth, and nonviolence.

Citation Information:
Gandhi, M. K. (2005). All men are brothers: Life and thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi. New York: Continuum.

Links:
Complete Information on Gandhi
Tolstoy Farm

See Also:
Gandhi, M. K. (1957). An autobiography; The story of my experiments with truth. Boston: Beacon Press.

Gandhi, M. K. (1958). Collected works. Delhi: Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt. of India.