The Man Who Tried to Take the Violence Out of War

February 5, 2018 7:26 AM

Gene Sharp, 1928-2018. The founder and former director of the Albert Einstein Institution dedicated his life to the study of nonviolent political struggle, and his books have been used as virtual how-to manuals by pro-democracy activists around the world. ("I would rather have [Sharp's book Civilian-Based Defense] than the nuclear bomb," Audrius Butkevicius, the former Lithuanian defense minister, once said.) Appreciation for Sharp from Slobodan Djinovic and Srdja Popovic (leaders of the anti-Milosevic movement in Serbia), Timothy Gee, and Jesse Walker.
posted by Cash4Lead (15 comments total)

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posted by tobascodagama at 7:35 AM on February 5, 2018

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posted by audi alteram partem at 7:49 AM on February 5, 2018

Gene Sharps writing is great and should be required reading.
posted by Agent_X_ at 8:34 AM on February 5, 2018 [2 favorites]

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posted by mfoight at 8:45 AM on February 5, 2018

198 Methods of Nonviolent Action

broken into six basic categories:

THE METHODS OF NONVIOLENT PROTEST AND PERSUASION
THE METHODS OF SOCIAL NONCOOPERATION
THE METHODS OF ECONOMIC NONCOOPERATION: ECONOMIC BOYCOTTS
THE METHODS OF ECONOMIC NONCOOPERATION: THE STRIKE
THE METHODS OF POLITICAL NONCOOPERATION
THE METHODS OF NONVIOLENT INTERVENTION

there will be a quiz
posted by philip-random at 9:00 AM on February 5, 2018 [5 favorites]

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is there a good starting point for getting into his work?
posted by OHenryPacey at 9:15 AM on February 5, 2018

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posted by doctornemo at 9:44 AM on February 5, 2018

is there a good starting point for getting into his work?

The first volume of his three-part Politics of Nonviolent Action, titled Power and Struggle, is a pretty good start. The second part then exhaustively lists the methods of non-violent action, and the third part lays out a set of strategies for implementing a non-violent movement. They're great books, and relatively short.
posted by Four String Riot at 9:45 AM on February 5, 2018 [4 favorites]

There's also the condensed version of The Politics of Nonviolent Action, titled How Nonviolent Struggle Works [PDF].
posted by Cash4Lead at 10:07 AM on February 5, 2018 [2 favorites]

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posted by languagehat at 11:16 AM on February 5, 2018

☮️
posted by lunasol at 11:38 AM on February 5, 2018 [5 favorites]

They replayed an interview from 2010 with Mr. Sharp on NPR today and he spoke of how placing a flower in the business end of a gun blunts the instrument and makes the wielder less likely to fire. I honestly never thought of it that way. RIP, Mr. Sharp.
posted by xyzzy at 12:09 PM on February 5, 2018 [2 favorites]

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posted by mondo dentro at 2:37 PM on February 5, 2018

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posted by XMLicious at 4:08 PM on February 5, 2018

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posted by lalochezia at 5:36 PM on February 5, 2018