Mark Kurlansky -- Nonviolence: Twenty-Five Lessons from the History of a Dangerous Idea

Mark Kurlansky -- Nonviolence: Twenty-Five Lessons from the History of a Dangerous Idea
Weekly Signals (KUCI: University of California-Irvine)
Hosts: Mike Kapsar and Nathan Callahan



In his latest book, Nonviolence: Twenty-Five Lessons from the History of a Dangerous Idea, Kurlansky discusses nonviolence as a distinct entity, a course of action, rather than a mere state of mind. Nonviolence can and should be a technique for overcoming social injustice and ending wars, he asserts, which is why it is the preferred method of those who speak truth to power.

Kurlansky also brings into focus just why nonviolence is a “dangerous” idea, and asks such provocative questions as: Is there such a thing as a “just war”? Could nonviolence have worked against even the most evil regimes in history?

Kurlansky draws from history twenty-five provocative lessons on the subject that we can use to effect change today. He shows how, time and again, violence is used to suppress nonviolence and its practitioners — Gandhi and Martin Luther King, for example; that the stated deterrence value of standing national armies and huge weapons arsenals is, at best, negligible; and, encouragingly, that much of the hard work necessary to begin a movement to end war is already complete.

To Listen to the Interview: Go Down the Page to September 16)