The Failure of Pacifism and the Success of Nonviolence

Abstract

Although pacifism and nonviolence bear a close relationship to one another historically, pacifism is the ideological assertion that war and violence should be rejected in political and personal life, whereas nonviolence refers to a distinct set of political practices. Unlike other modern ideologies such as liberalism and socialism, pacifism has never gained widespread acceptance among a significant portion of humanity and seems to remain a minority position among most of the peoples of the world. Even among those who use nonviolent techniques, the conventional wisdom that physical violence is necessary under certain circumstances often prevails. However, a growing body of empirical evidence shows that the methods of nonviolence are more likely to succeed than methods of violence across a wide variety of circumstances and that more people are using nonviolence around the world. At the same time, both the effectiveness of military and material superiority in achieving political ends and the incidence of warfare and violence appear to be waning. In a remarkable example of convergence between empirical social science and political theory, explanations for the effectiveness of nonviolence relative to violence point to a people-centered understanding of power. This research can provide a basis for a reinvigorated and pragmatic brand of pacifism that refocuses the attention of political scientists on the organization, actions, and loyalties of people as opposed to technologies of domination and destruction.

Проблема Ненасилия В Зарубежной Психологии (Обзор Публикаций)

“…Ненаси лие тесно связано с пацифизмом, но в то же время отличается от него. Пацифизм отвергает всякое насилие и войны, сторонники же ненасилия не выступают против справедливых войн (Howes, 2013).…”

What Has Nonviolence Got To Do With The EU?

“…They were deployed in the processes of decolonization and democratization all around the world, from Western Sahara to Egypt, from Tunisia to Georgia. Nonviolence played a key role in the abolition of slavery and the entry of women into politics (Howes, ). People are fighting ISIS nonviolently (Braley and Popovic, ; Popovic and Mimoun, ; Stephan, ).…”

Peace as a Minor, Grounded Utopia: On Prefigurative and Testimonial Pacifism

“…A powerful response to this charge has emerged in recent years. Countering the suspicion that pacifism is utopian, authors such as Dustin Howes (2009; 2013), Karuna Mantena (2012), and Todd May (2015) have insisted on another kind of pacifism: one that is credible, practical, and eminently realistic. Interestingly, these political theorists have based their defenses of pacifism on the findings of social scientists who have investigated the effectiveness of nonviolence in a number of empirical contexts.…”