The History of Political Non-Violence
*New Course*
In this seminar, we will investigate the history of nonviolence in the modern world by focusing on two thematic approaches.
In the first part of the course, we will focus on individual Americans who have historically made significant contributions to the theory and practice of nonviolent solutions to national and international conflicts. Some, like Martin Luther King, will be familiar, but most, such as Gene Sharp, Dorothy Day and A. J. Muste, in all likelihood will not be. Later in the semester, we will study individuals from other countries who have formulated concepts for nonviolent conflict-resolution, including well-known luminaries such as Mohandas Gandhi, Lech Walesa, and Nelson Mandela.
Following this exploration, we shall immerse ourselves in case studies of peaceful resolutions of seemingly intractable conflicts during the twentieth century as alternatives to traditional tactics of warfare and counter-terrorism. Included among the examples to be studied are (1) the dissolution of the Soviet Union and its Eastern European subordinate states between 1989 and 1991; (2) the end of British rule in India in 1948; (3) the transition from the apartheid regime in South Africa in the early 1990s; (4) the plebiscite that ended the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile in 1988; (5) the Good Friday Accords ending decades of violence in Ireland in 1998; (6) and the successful nonviolent strategies of the American civil rights movement during the 1960s. Not all efforts at nonviolent solutions succeed. One prominent example are the agreements known as the Oslo Accords agreed to in the 1990s by Israeli and Palestinian delegations to end a conflict that continues into the present.
Requirements:
In lieu of formal exams, you will be graded on the basis of the quality of several response papers, voluntary oral participation in our discussions of the assigned material, and a research paper due at the close of the semester. The first response paper will count for 15% of your grade, the second 25%, and the term paper 50%, leaving 10% for participation.
Assigned Books: (tentative)
Ackerman, Peter. A Force More Powerful: A Century of Non-Violent Conflict
Chernus, Ira. American Nonviolence: The History of an Idea
Schell, Jonathan. The Unconquerable World: Power, Nonviolence and the Will of the People
