By S. Francesca Po, Metta Center Strategic Advisory Council member. She is currently a doctoral student of Theology and Religious Studies at King’s College London, where she is teaching modules on Buddhism. Edited and originally posted at Open Democracy on May 1, 2013. Last year, the Philippine government struck a historic peace deal with the Islamist rebels. But… read more
History
“Nonviolence, being natural, is not reported in history.” The situation that Gandhi referred to so pointedly in 1909 has improved slightly. The living history of nonviolence is emerging everyday and we shall endeavor to keep you in touch with these developments on this site. As with science, we must tune the instrument to these subtler but often more fundamental observations. Nonviolent movements themselves have been expanding at an accelerating rate since the days of Gandhi and King. But more than this, we must learn to see the subtler nonviolent interactions that take place between person and person, and even if that were possible, within the individual human being as she struggles with negative impulses to become more responsive to the unity of life. Please send us your comments and suggestions for topics for this page.
Why Gender Matters For Building Peace
By Mary Elizabeth King First published on Waging Nonviolence, November 24th, 2011 One of the most extraordinary nonviolent, transnational movements of the modern age was the women’s suffrage movement of the first two decades of the 20th century. New Zealand first extended the franchise in the late 19th century—after two decades of organizing efforts. As… read more
Pushing the Powerful Into a Moral Corner at India’s Barefoot College
Women working in a solar engineering lab at Barefoot College. Photo by Miki Kashtan. By Miki Kashtan Originally posted on Waging Nonviolence, March 7th, 2012. One of the challenges that nonviolent campaigns face is how to engage those in power. Whether it be the British officials, as in Gandhi’s case, or the 1 percent, as… read more
The Power of Wangari Maathai
By Ken Butigan. First published on Waging Nonviolence, September 29th, 2011. The first thing Wangari Maathai did after being notified that she had won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize was to plant a tree in her backyard. She said she did this whenever she celebrated something. Maathai died of ovarian cancer [on September 25th, 2011] in Nairobi.… read more
Remembering the Resistance of Rosa Parks
By Bryan Farrell. Originally published by Waging Nonviolence on December 2nd, 2010. Yesterday [December 1st, 2010] marked the 55th anniversary of Rosa Parks’ refusal to move to the “colored” section of a public bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Her act of civil disobedience led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which lasted for more than a year,… read more
350.org’s Bold New Plan to Save the Climate
By Philip Wight From Waging Nonviolence (December 3, 2012) It’s a cold fall evening in Columbus, Ohio, but nearly a thousand people are ready to contemplate the consequences of man-made global warming. A tall, slender man strolls on stage and the crowd instantly rises, applauding for nearly two minutes, much to the discomfort of the humble speaker.… read more
The next phase of Sheik Jawdat Said’s nonviolent journey
By Ken Butigan, originally posted at Waging Nonviolence on June 7, 2012 In the midst of the growing firestorm engulfing Syria, Sheik Jawdat Said is on his way back to the land of his birth. The eminent 81-year-old Islamic thinker has championed nonviolence for decades. In 1966, as Bashar Humeid reports, Said published The Doctrine… read more
Alice Paul’s Enduring Legacy of Nonviolent Action
Suffragists picketing in front of the White House in 1917. (Harris & Ewing/Library of Congress) By Ken Butigan Article originally posted on Waging Nonviolence Turning points are easier to recognize long after they’ve occurred than while they’re taking place. One of those shifts happened 100 years ago next month, setting in motion a dramatic strategy… read more