The Power of Nonviolence
In the last lesson, we talked about nonviolence as a power and positive force. Now we will look more closely into the power of nonviolence. It is a common misconception that nonviolence is weak or passive. In reality, nonviolence is a powerful and active force, what Gandhi called “the greatest force at the disposal of humankind.”
One example of this force in action by an average person is the story of Antoinette Tuff, a bookkeeper at a school in Decatur, Georgia. She singlehandedly disarmed a distraught young man who came into the school where she worked armed and threatened to start shooting. Rather than panic, she began to pray, and then she started talking to the young man, empathizing with him, sharing her own struggles and listening to his. After some time, she was able to convince him to willingly put down his weapons and let the police come in. This tremendous act of bravery not only saved her own life and that of the shooter’s, but countless school children and employees who were present that day. Antoinette Tuff’s actions exemplify the power of nonviolence.
Economist Kenneth Boulding describes three different types of power in his book Three Faces of Power: threat, exchange, and integrative. Threat power (power over) essentially says, “You do something I want, or I will do something you don’t want.” Threat power involves using force to get someone to do something. This kind of power never results in a long-term positive outcome for either party involved. In the example of Antoinette Tuff, had she threatened to meet the young man’s force with force, that would have been a use of threat power - and we can imagine the result!
Exchange power says, “If you give me something I want, I will give you something you want.” Exchange power is like a market transaction and is essentially neutral. The parties make some kind of mutually agreeable trade, no one is coerced, and while the two are not driven apart, they’re not brought much closer together. We engage in exchange power on a day-to-day basis in many of our interactions, such as in a store, or possibly even when negotiating with our boss at work. In the Antoinette Tuff story, exchange power might have looked like this: “If you put down your weapons, I will help you escape.” It would involve a tit-for-tat arrangement in which no one was physically harmed, but the situation would also remain unresolved.
Integrative power (power with) says, “I will be authentic, and it will bring us closer together.” Integrative power is when both parties take positive action based on what they believe to be true. In the long run, this results in a closer relationship and greater well-being for everyone. Antoinette Tuff’s example is integrative power in action, where she expressed love and authenticity, creating a bond between herself and the would-be shooter, reawakening in him his own humanity, and resulting in a peaceful resolution to the situation. Nonviolence is integrative power.
There is one more important aspect of nonviolent power that we need to understand: person power! We will discover person power in our next lesson.