101 lines
4.8 KiB
Markdown
101 lines
4.8 KiB
Markdown
**How Nonviolence Protects the State** is a 2005
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[book](List_of_Libertarian_Socialist_Media "wikilink") by [Peter
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Gelderloos](Peter_Gelderloos "wikilink") which challenges the perception
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that [strict nonviolence](Pacifism "wikilink") is the best way to
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[change the world](Revolution "wikilink"), as opposed to a [diversity of
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tactics](Diversity_of_Tactics "wikilink"). The book is also heavily
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critical of nonviolence for being "wrapped in authoritarian dynamics,
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and its results are harnessed to meet government objectives over popular
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objectives. It masks and even encourages
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[patriarchal](Patriarchy "wikilink") assumptions and power dynamics. Its
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strategic options invariably lead to dead ends. And its practitioners
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delude themselves on a number of key points."
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## Summary
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### Nonviolence is Ineffective
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Nonviolent activists like to claim the success of the Indian
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independence movement, the civil rights movement, the cap on nuclear
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weapons, the anti-war movement during the Vietnam war and the 2003
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anti-war protests as excellent examples of nonviolence bringing about
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massive changes in society. But a closer examination reveals all of
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these successes to be overstated and whitewashed by nonviolent
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activists.
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Indian independence only really occurred following the [Second World
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War](World_War_II "wikilink") and armed resistance by Jewish and Arab
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militants in Palestine. Furthermore, Indian revolutionaries such as
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[Bhagat Singh](Bhagat_Singh "wikilink") and [Chandra Shekhar
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Azad](Chandra_Shekhar_Azad "wikilink") frequently endorsed
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assassinations and bombings while being hugely popular. Furthermore,
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India was never really granted independence, quickly being taken over by
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[multinational corporations](Corporation "wikilink") run by much of the
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Global North, and Britain hand-picked the new government, whilst fanning
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the flames of ethnic hatred to destabilize the country.
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The [anti-nuclear movement](Anti-Nuclear_Movement "wikilink") was again
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not exclusively nonviolent, with groups like [Direct
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Action](Direct_Action_\(Canada\) "wikilink") in
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[Canada](Canada "wikilink") and guerillas like [Marco
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Camenisch](Marco_Camenisch "wikilink") in Switzerland, and several major
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nuclear accidents forced governments to reconsider its use. The US
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[civil rights movement](Civil_Rights_Movement "wikilink") did not
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entirely succeed, as people of colour still have to deal with lower
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wages, worse housing and healthcare in a form of de facto segregation.
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During the 1960s and 1970s, armed groups like the [Black
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Panthers](Black_Panthers "wikilink") and people like [Malcolm
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X](Malcolm_X "wikilink") had greater support than pacifists, a fact
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which has been covered up by governments, schools and charities.
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Nonviolent movements by [MLK](Martin_Luther_King_Jr. "wikilink") had
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largely failed, and it was only during violent moments like the
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[Birmingham Uprising](1963_Birmingham_Uprising "wikilink"), when
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revolution looked like an imminent possibility, that the government
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began to legislate legal equality for African Americans.
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The anti-war movement against the Vietnam War saw violence in numerous
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areas. Soldiers frequently assassinated their commanding officers fire
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stabbing, shooting, explosions and sometimes openly mutinied. Back home,
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civilians began to bomb and burn down military facilities and corporate
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assets that gained from the war. The purely nonviolent protests in 2003
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against the Iraq War completely failed to stop the invasion or even
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hinder the ability of the US military to act, with the notable exception
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of the 2004 Madrid Train Station bombings in Spain (although this was
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committed by a far-right group which must be fought).
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Pacifisms failure also flares up in World War II, where the Jewish
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community in Germany and Poland pursued a strategy of nonviolent
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resistance to the Nazis from 1933 and 1942 which completely failed to
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prevent the Holocaust, which only began to slow down with armed
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resistance (assassinations, bombing and arsons) like the
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[Auschwitz](Auschwitz#Uprising "wikilink") and [Warsaw
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Uprisings](1944_Warsaw_Uprising "wikilink"), which saved tens of
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thousands of people from their death.
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### Nonviolence is Racist
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Given that nonviolence ignores the imminent need for racial justice and
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equality, and how it argues that violent resistance is wrong. Indigenous
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people, the descendants of slaves and refugees of war need to employ
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violence
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### Nonviolence is Statist
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### Nonviolence is Patriarchal
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### Nonviolence is Tactically and Strategically Inferior
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### Nonviolence is Deluded
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### The Alternative: Possibilities for Revolutionary Activism
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## External Links
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- [How Nonviolence Protects the
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State](https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/peter-gelderloos-how-nonviolence-protects-the-state)
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at theanarchistlibrary
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## See Also
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- [The Failure of Nonviolence](The_Failure_of_Nonviolence "wikilink")
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- [Pacifism as Pathology](Pacifism_as_Pathology "wikilink") |