Turning the Tide Taster SheetNONVIOLENCE AND ACTIVE NONVIOLENCE |
Empowered PEOPLE in STRONG communities taking effective ACTION |
'Nonviolence' is a word which is used in many ways. People in the
Home Office, for example talk about 'nonviolent crime', meaning
crime which does not involve physical injury or destruction of
property. On the basis of what it sounds like, many people take
it to mean just 'not violent' and often interpret it as gentle,
passive, harmless, nonconfrontational.
For some activists and theorists, nonviolence is a secular word, meaning 'people power', that is social and political movements which use the power of demonstrations, non-cooperation or direct action to change a situation; it is a strategy, not a principled choice. For others, however, the word carries a religious meaning to do with the ultimate goal of nonviolent action and the spirit in which it is carried out. It is this meaning of the word which the Turning the Tide programme uses.
Nonviolence - a positive calling
Nonviolence sounds negative, and some aspects are described in
terms of a refusal to harm, but the desire not to harm arises
from the positive calling of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. The
vocation of the Christian to compassion and justice leads to a
commitment to eschew violence (that which damages and degrades
people and the natural world), whether physical, psychological or
structured into our society.
Becoming nonviolent people
From this basic commitment comes a need for us to develop the
capacity to be nonviolent in our daily lives and relationships as
well as in social and political action. Nonviolence involves
absolute respect and care for everyone as people (as opposed to
what they might be doing), even opponents. This, together with a
willingness to take upon yourself any suffering that might arise,
requires a daily spiritual grounding and practice - nonviolence
is not something you can spray on after a training session or
two! To be open channels of the spirit, we can work on developing
the skills of listening, affirmation, communication and
assertion.
Active nonviolence
Active nonviolence is one approach to achieving peace and justice
alongside action to build a just world through sustainable and
participatory development, and the methods of creative conflict
resolution. It is appropriate where there is a disparity in power
between two sides in a conflict so that the powerless side has to
take action to even up so that negotiations can start. The need
may be as basic as to demand recognition from the powerful that
they are fellow human beings, or to get them to see that there is
a problem. Or the situation may be one of such structural
injustice that it cannot be improved or reformed, but has to be
transformed. The aim is both dialogue and resistance - dialogue
with the people to persuade them, and resistance to the
structures to compel change.
The methods of active nonviolence
Dramatising actions, usually symbolic, can be used to
reveal the truth of an issue and to draw attention to it. For
example, homelessness campaigners in Washington claimed the body
of a pauper who froze to death and carried it in a coffin to city
hall, thus literally laying it the door of those responsible. The
'creative disorder' of demonstrations, blockades, marches
or invasions attract attention to an issue and can lead to
change. Non-cooperation - strikes, boycotts, stay-aways,
refusal to follow orders - and intervention - blockades,
sit-ins, direct action - create a crisis and can compel necessary
change when opponents are unpersuadable. Creating alternative
institutions is another way of altering society. (NB: One
should never use a method which one would not want used against
oneself!)
Characteristics of a nonviolent campaign