The Power of Nonviolence: Writings by Advocates of Peace

by Howard Zinn

Overview

There is no easy way out of the spiraling morass of terror and brutality that confronts the world today. It is time now for the human race to hold still, to delve into its wells of collective wisdom, both ancient and modern.—Arundhati Roy

The Power of Nonviolence, the first anthology of alternatives to war with a historical perspective, with an introduction by Howard Zinn about September 11 and the U.S. response to the terrorist attacks, presents the most salient and persuasive arguments for peace in the last 2,500 years of human history. Arranged chronologically, covering the major conflagrations in the world, The Power of Nonviolence is a compelling step forward in the study of pacifism, a timely anthology that fills a void for people looking for responses to crisis that are not based on guns or bombs.

Included are some of the most original thinkers about peace and nonviolence-Buddha, Scott Nearing, Henry David Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience," Jane Addams, William Penn on "the end of war," Dorothy Day's position on "Pacifism," Erich Fromm, and Rajendra Prasad. Supplementing these classic voices are more recent advocates of peace: Albert Camus' "Neither Victims Nor Executioners," A. J. Muste's impressive "Getting Rid of War," Martin Luther King's influential "Declaration of Independence from the War in Vietnam," and Arundhati Roy's "War Is Peace," plus many others.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807014073
Publisher:	Beacon Press
Publication date:	09/12/2002
Pages:	216
Sales rank:	770,462
Product dimensions:	5.53(w) x 8.24(h) x 0.55(d)

About the Author

Howard Zinn (1922–2010) was a historian, author, professor, playwright, and activist. His life’s work focused on a wide range of issues including race, class, war, and history, and touched the lives of countless people. His writing celebrated the accomplishments of social movements and ordinary people, and challenged readers to question the myths that justify war and inequality. Zinn’s influence lives on in millions of people who have read his work and have been inspired by his actions. He ended his autobiography with these encouraging words: "We don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an endless succession of presents, and to live now as we think humans should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory."

Table of Contents

	Introduction: Retaliation	vii
i.	Pre-twentieth century
	Let a Man Overcome Anger by Love (520 B.C.)	3
	from "Essay Towards the Present and Future Peace of Europe" (1693)	5
	from "War" (1885)	8
	Civil Disobedience (1849)	15
ii.	The fin de siecle to the cold war (1900-1949)
	from "Newer Ideals of Peace" (1907)	39
	from The Trial of Scott Nearing and the American Socialist Society (1919)	42
	My Faith in Nonviolence (1930)	45
	Pacifism (1936)	47
	Our Country Passes from Undeclared War to Declared War; We Continue Our Christian Pacifist Stand (1942)	50
	from "Reflections on War" (1933)	53
	Neither Victims nor Executioners (1946)	57
	Are We Only Paying Lip Service to Peace? (1946)	74
iii.	The cold war and vietnam (1950-1975)
	Getting Rid of War (1959)	83
	The Case for Unilateral Disarmament (1960)	92
	The Root of War Is Fear (1962)	96
	The Way to Disarmament (1962)	105
	Declaration of Independence from the War in Vietnam (1967)	113
	Vietnam: The Moral Equation (1970)	125
iv.	Post-vietnam to the present (1975- )
	Communities of Resistance: A Conversation (1975)	141
	from The Fate of the Earth (1984)	162
	The Immorality of War: A Conversation (1992)	174
	The Dilemma of the Absolute Pacifist: A Conversation (1992)	178
	War Is Peace (2001)	182
	Who's Being Naive? War-Time Realism through the Looking Glass (2001)	193
	International Appeal of Nobel Prize Laureates, Poets, Philosophers, Intellectuals and Human Rights Defenders for an Immediate End to the War against Afghanistan (2001)	198
	Credits	201