Nonviolent Direct Action
Though generally considered to be weak and ineffective, nonviolence and nonviolent direct action, if done right, can be very powerful and often more effective than violent resistance. As described by Harry Boyte and Marie-Louise Ström
The nonviolent approach is not a “tactic” nor is it a set of absolute ideals like pacifism, refusal to use physical force under any circumstances. Nonviolence is a practical philosophy which emphasizes spiritual and emotional disciplines and practices that teach how to refuse to demonize opponents and to see the “image of God” in all, drawing on Christianity. In his essay, “Pilgrimage to Nonviolence,” Martin Luther King outlines [its] practices and disciplines including
- Nonviolence is struggle, not inaction: “passive physically but strongly active spiritually,” as King puts it.
- Nonviolent practitioners understand opponents, rather than defeat or humiliate them, with the end “reconciliation.”
- Nonviolence is directed against evil actions, not the persons who commit the actions.
- Nonviolent practitioners aim at a kind of love called agape, “neighborly concern for others,” whether friend or enemy, recognizing their “need for belonging to the best in the human family.”
- Nonviolent practitioners believe that refraining from hate in response to violence, whether physical or emotional, is redemptive. “Hate…corrodes the personality and eats away at its vital unity,” King wrote. “The nonviolent approach…first does something to the hearts and souls of those committed to it. It gives them new self-respect. It calls up resources of strength and courage they did not know they had.”
Boyte and Ström also write and teach about "constuctive nonviolence,"emphasizing people’s agency, ownership, and responsibility for building a flourishing community, what King called the beloved community." Using nonviolent citizen politics, civic agency, and public works are key to using constructive nonviolence to bridge divides, solve problems, and strengthen democracy.
