A Theory of Nonviolent Action

HOW CIVIL RESISTANCE WORKS

9781780320540STELLAN VINTHAGEN

Distributed for Zed Books
224 pages Paper $29.95, ISBN: 9781780325156 Published November 2015 Cloth $95.00, ISBN: 9781780320540 Published November 2015 In this ground-breaking and much-needed book, Stellan Vinthagen provides the first major systematic attempt to develop a theory of nonviolent action since Gene Sharp's seminal The Politics of Nonviolent Action in 1973. Employing a rich collection of historical and contemporary social movements from various parts of the world as examples—from the civil rights movement in America to anti-Apartheid protestors in South Africa to Gandhi and his followers in India—and addressing core theoretical issues concerning nonviolent action in an innovative, penetrating way, Vinthagen argues for a repertoire of nonviolence that combines resistance and construction. Contrary to earlier research, this repertoire—consisting of dialogue facilitation, normative regulation, power breaking and utopian enactment—is shown to be both multidimensional and contradictory, creating difficult contradictions within nonviolence, while simultaneously providing its creative and transformative force. An important contribution to the field, A Theory of Nonviolent Action is essential for anyone involved with nonviolent action who wants to think about what they are doing.

Contents

PART 1: Chapter 1: 'Nonviolent Action' Chapter 2: Nonviolent Action Studies - Morality vs. Strategy Chapter 3: The History of Nonviolent Action - A Geneaology of a Concept and its Practice Chapter 4: Defining Nonviolent Action PART 2: Chapter 5: The Social Rationality of Nonviolent Action Chapter 6: Communicative Rationality of Nonviolent Action - Nonviolent Dialogue Facilitation Chapter 7: Goal Rationality of Nonviolent Action - Nonviolent Power Breaking Chapter 8: Expressive Rationality of Nonviolent Action - Nonviolent Utopian Enactment Chapter 9: Normative Rationality of Nonviolent Action - Nonviolent Normative Regulation Chapter 10: The Creative and Dialectic Force of Nonviolent Action Afterword References Appendix http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/T/bo20503488.html