Struggling with (Non)violence

Ignoring the complexity of what constitutes violence is where the (non)violent thought and praxis represented by white, liberal Christians in the United States falls short. In this book, twelve scholar-activist interviewees share perspectives and effective practices that destabilize traditional rationalizations of violence, including those from the institutions and practices of a dominant Christian theology.

The author calls on communities committed to (non)violence to invest in a model for social change which:

1) ROOTS ITSELF IN CONTEXTUAL, HISTORICAL ANALYSIS;

2) INCLUDES OTHER-THAN-HUMAN LIVES AS NECESSARY PARTNERS;

3) VALUES PRACTICES THAT DISMANTLE VIOLENCE OVER THEOLOGICAL ABSTRACTIONS;

4) EMPHASIZES CREATIVE COMMUNITIES OF ACTIVE, COUNTER-CULTURAL RESISTANCE OVER INDIVIDUALISM;

5) EXPERIMENTS WITH DIVERSE, DISRUPTIVE TACTICS; AND

6) URGES A SELF-CRITICAL SOLIDARITY THAT WELCOMES DIFFERENCES REGARDING VARIOUS MEANS OF SOCIAL CHANGE.

The Interviewees: Rita "Bo" Brown (B), Ward Churchill, John Dear, Vincent Harding, Dolores Huerta, Derrick Jensen, Kathy Kelly, Alice Lynd, Staughton Lynd, Katherine Power, Sarah Schulman, Akinyele Umoja