Nonviolence ideals clash with self-defense

Nonviolence ideals clash with self-defense

http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_10209130

Denver Post - Denver , CO , USA

By Christopher Hubble

How can dissent groups like Recreate 68 at once espouse the apparently contrary theories of nonviolence and protest?

The world is watching as it and other demonstrators descend upon Denver for the Democratic National Convention. Recreate 68, a local umbrella group, has served as a catalyst of sorts, stimulating conversation about the right of self-defense and the use of political violence.

Recreate 68's "Statement of Non-Violence and Principles" represents a somewhat awkward synthesis of several distinct philosophical and ideological systems that do not always fit together very neatly. Advocates of nonviolence, for example, use a broad spectrum of protest and "non-cooperation" techniques characterized primarily by the abstention from violence of the "fist, tongue, or heart" to achieve a more just society — or "beloved community," to invoke Dr. Martin Luther King's revered ideal.

The most well-known nonviolent movements of the 20th century were those led by Mohandas K. Gandhi in South Africa and India and by the Rev. King in the American South. Gandhi chose the term Satyagraha ("truth firmness" or "soul force") to describe his philosophy, but he grounded his work in the ancient concept of ahimsa (literally, nonviolence).

The anarchist, socialist and communist philosophies which also inform Recreate 68's world view comprise an entirely different set of ideologies rooted in a rather scathing critique of modern political economy. They too offer a vision of political, economic and social justice. Recreate 68, therefore, begins its statement of principles by attempting to fuse this critique with an affirmation of nonviolent ethics: "We are committed to resisting and overturning the system of violence inflicted daily on the people of this country and the world, and against the natural environment, by political and corporate power in the pursuit of profit. We are resolved that our group will not instigate violence against human beings as a means to end this system of violence and injustice."

While they may share some values, nonviolent actors, anarchists, socialists and communists have not always agreed upon methods. Both Leo Tolstoy and Gandhi, for example, were political anarchists who also advocated a more equitable redistribution of society's resources. Neither, however, supported violence to achieve their goals. Shortly after the abortive 1905 Russian national uprising (which was brutally put down by Tsar Nicholas II), Tolstoy wrote that he "grieved . . . for those who, imagining that they are making [the revolution], are destroying it. . . . The violence of the old regime will only be destroyed by non-participation in violence, and not at all by the new and foolish acts of violence which are now being committed."

Confusion regarding the right to self-defense and how it resonates with nonviolent theory further complicates these issues. The right of self-defense originates in European theories of human rights. In "The Rights of War and Peace," historian Richard Tuck writes about several European political philosophers: "For Grotius, Hobbes, and their followers, self-preservation was a paramount principle, and the basis for whatever universal morality there was — for, they believed, no society could be found or imagined in which people were denied the moral right to preserve themselves."

But during the 19th century, both European pacifists and American "nonresistants" frequently differed over this issue. Some, including Tolstoy and American abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, adopted an absolutist stance opposing all violence. Insisting that war is fundamentally immoral, they rejected all forms of cooperation with or participation in the activities of what they perceived to be a state rooted in violent enterprise. Others chose a more pragmatic position, distinguishing between the principle of abstention from violence and policies necessitated by realpolitik.

So Recreate 68 can, in fact, simultaneously affirm nonviolent philosophy and methodology while insisting upon "the right of the people to self-defense and community defense" on the basis of historical precedent. The problem with this apparent juxtaposition lies in grafting together so many distinct ideologies in a meaningful, clear and understandable expression. And although Recreate 68's commitment to nonviolence is clear, its statement might have included a stronger rejection of property destruction.

Ever the consummate pragmatist, Gandhi clarified the apparent disconnect between nonviolence and self-defense in 1922. He acknowledged the private right to self-defense of all pledge-signing "non-cooperators" while simultaneously forbidding the use of political violence by direct-action participants. "The non-cooperator's pledge does not exclude the right of private self-defense," Gandhi said. "Non-cooperators are under prohibition as to political violence. Those, therefore, with whom non-cooperation is not their final creed are certainly free to defend themselves or their dependents and wards against their assailants. But they may not defend themselves against the police acting in discharge of their duties, whether assumed or authorized."

One can only hope that participants and observers at the DNC remember the spirit of Gandhi and King, and embody the transformative nonviolence they hope to create in the world.

Christopher Hubble is the lead organizer for Soulforce in Colorado and a graduate student in the History Department at the University of Colorado Denver .

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Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center , 325 E. 25th St. , Baltimore , MD 21218 . Ph: 410-366-1637; Email: mobuszewski [at] verizon.net

"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs