The International Center for Nonviolent Conflict has a couple of interesting events coming up. The first is part of an online lecture series on topics related to nonviolent conflict and civil resistance. There have been two presentations since the series began last month, but the latest one is scheduled for this afternoon, starting at 12pm EST. University of San Francisco politics professor Stephen Zunes will be speaking about “the long history of nonviolent action throughout the Islamic world” and highlighting “case studies including Iran, Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon, Mali, Western Sahara, Indonesia, Pakistan, and others.” You must register to attend the Webinar.

The second event is the ICNC’s fifth annual Fletcher Summer Institute for the Advanced Study of Nonviolent Conflict at Tufts University. This week-long Institute “brings together international professionals and journalists from around the world to learn from top practitioners and scholars about strategic concepts and present applications of civil resistance.” It will take place June 20-26. Go to the ICNC website to learn more about the application, which is due March 15th.

If you want to be notified of more events put on by the ICNC sign up for their bi-weekly emails, which also include links to many great stories about nonviolence.

Just over a week ago, I was fortunate enough to attend a conference at The New School called “Iran: Politics of Resistance.” Many great scholars on Iran, both American and Iranian, took part in three panel discussions throughout the day. I was only able to attend the first one—which focused primarily on the Green Movement and whether it can accurately be called a full-fledged revolution—but the others looked to be just as fascinating. Fortunately, they are now all online.

From the first panel, I recommend watching Charles Kurzman from the University of North Carolina speak about “Cultural Jiu-Jitsu and the Iranian Greens,” as well as the talk on “Revolutionary Prefigurations” given by journalist Danny Postel (a good friend of this site). His suggestion that the Green Movement not put off addressing economic issues (like the “color revolutions” of Eastern Europe) was met with serious debate during the Q&A period—a phenomenon we are familiar with on this site. It was also nice to hear a lot of our hunches about the ambiguity of the Green Movement’s objectives and leadership echoed by the speakers.

I have yet to watch the other two panel presentations, but both look particularly useful to those studying social movements and nonviolence. The second is about “Everyday Resistance, Micropolitics and Solidarity” and the third is on “Ethical and Political Demands of the Green Movement,” which includes a presentation on “The Gandhian Movement in Iran.”

I plan on watching both and will add comments if anything strikes me. I hope others will join me.

In this fascinating video, neuroscientist Vilayanur Ramachandran gives a brief overview of the recently discovered mirror neurons, or what he likes to call “Gandhi neurons,” at a recent TED conference. As he describes in his talk, a mirror nueron is a motor neuron in your brain that:

fires when I reach and grab something, but it also fires when I watch Joe reaching and grabbing something. And this is truly astonishing. Because it’s as though this neuron is adopting the other person’s point of view. It’s almost as though it’s performing a virtual reality simulation of the other person’s action.

Ramachandran then describes another type of mirror neuron that works similarly with the sense of touch:

Read the rest of this article »

First off, thanks to everyone who has made this site a frequent read. We are now eight months old and the number of regular visitors keeps increasing, which makes us all the more committed to providing new content every day. We’ve published nearly 400 posts and we keep meeting more and more people who want to contribute content.

All this work and support has really helped us hone our vision. So, recently, we decided it was time to update our About page with a clearer description of the site, as well as add several new pages to better connect with readers and expand our network.

We now have Writer’s Guidelines for those interesting in becoming contributors, a Classroom Guide for teachers and professors, and an Internship Announcement for students, recent grads, or young journalists interested in working with us. So please look them over and let us know if you have any questions or comments.

As the military and CIA escalate the number of drone attacks against Afghanistan and Pakistan, which have led to heavy civilian casualties, activists are preparing – for the first time – to protest these robotic killers at the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia on January 16, from 1-4pm.

Speaking at this event will be:

- Cindy Sheehan (world renowned U.S. anti-war/peace activist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee)
- Cynthia McKinney (former six term member of the U.S. House of Representatives and former Green Party candidate for President of the United States)
- Hadi Jawad (Pakistani-American and Co-founder of the Crawford Peace House)
- Kathy Kelly (U.S. peace activist, pacifist and author, a three-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee, one of the founding members of Voices in the Wilderness, and currently a co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence)
- Debra Sweet (Brooklyn-based director of World Can’t Wait)
- Bruce Gagnon (coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space)
- Joshua Smith (anti-war/peace activist, analyst and coordinator)
- David Rovics (musician)

According to an announcement for the action, which can be read in full here:

On the day of the event, activists will demand that the United States and its allies adhere to the protection of civilians (non-combatants) in international armed conflicts in accordance with the multiple existing conventions, protocols and customary international laws. These same activists will, of course, also demand an end to the wars and occupations currently under way and an immediate withdrawal of all troops and contractors.

Next week, on January 11, the 8th anniversary of the first prisoner arriving at Guantanamo, our friends at Witness Against Torture have organized a 12-day fast in DC to call on the Obama administration to uphold its promise to close the notorious prison and declare their opposition to the inmates continued indefinite detention (without charges or trial) in the US.

According to their press release:

Members of Witness Against Torture will rally in front of the White House at 11:45 a.m. to protest the lack of progress toward justice for detainees since Obama took office and demand from the administration true change. Speakers will announce a 12-Day Fast for Justice in Washington DC, ending on January 22– the Obama administration’s self-declared, and now-voided, deadline for closing Guantanamo.

[...]

After the demonstration, activists will stage a Guantanamo prisoner procession to the National Press Club. There, they will join the Center for Constitutional Rights for a press briefing featuring detainee lawyers and human rights activists. The briefing, led by CCR Executive Director Vince Warren, will include the reading of letters from released and exonerated Guantanamo detainees calling for the prison’s closure and justice for all detainees.

Many of us here at Waging Nonviolence have been involved in past actions organized by Witness Against Torture. They are a phenomenal group of activists, including many from the Catholic Worker movement, who know this issue inside and out. If you can make it to DC, I’m sure it will be a moving experience.

This morning it was announced that Barack Obama has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. I’ve been in a state of shock and am still not quite sure what can possibly be said. Only that it feels like a terrible mistake, a profound blow to an institution with so much potential for recognizing and encouraging good in the world. Obama isn’t even halfway through his first term, and one should hope that his most important accomplishments still lay ahead. In his time in office, as Jake Olzen wrote here yesterday, he has taken ownership of the disastrous wars that he inherited. We are still waiting for a definitive break with the endless militarism that has been American policy since World War II. We are still waiting for heath care reform, for a sensible energy and environmental policy, and for a real solution to the economic crisis—all things that were promised on the campaign trail.

Perhaps most troubling of all, though, is the impact that this prize could have on Obama’s ability to accomplish these vital goals. His efforts have already begun to polarize the country and Congress in profound ways. This nod from Europe—from countries deeply mistrusted by the American Right—may only inflame their fears that he is trying to implement a European-style welfare state (which, of course, is far from the truth of his disappointingly modest proposals). I imagine that the Nobel Foundation hopes to support Obama in his efforts, particularly in his work for nuclear nonproliferation and international cooperation. I’m glad they are. But they should also be able to recognize that this prize may not be the best way to do so.

At Waging Nonviolence, we try to shed more light on the remarkable work of people all over the world fighting for peace. This announcement only shows how much what we offer is needed. It shows a lack of imagination. There are so many others for whom receiving this award would have been more deserved and who could have done more good with the attention and money that it represents. I suspect that even Obama might agree.

These are just a few initial reactions. We’re still thinking through how to respond, and we’d love to hear from you. What do you think? And is there anyone else you think the prize should have been given to?

While public opinion has turned sharply against the war in Afghanistan this year, the White House and Congress are slow to listen.

In fact, Obama’s only response has been to send tens of thousands of additional troops and mercenaries to the “graveyard of empire.”

Therefore, we must send those in Washington a message stronger than polls. As difficult and unpleseant as it may be, we must sacrifice more – and do so more often – until this national nightmare has ended. Business as usual simply must not continue.

With the eighth anniversary of the war quickly approaching, the War Resisters League has cued us in to an important action.

On October 5, activists with the WRL and other organizations and communities will attempt to deliver a petition against the war to President Obama and request a meeting. In the process, some of the participants will risk arrest in an act of civil disobedience in front of the White House.

Read the WRL’s full Call to Action at: www.warresisters.org/calltoaction

To sign up for the action, or if you have any questions, e-mail: octoberactions@warresisters.org

To sign up for the October 5th National Day of Action Against the War in Afghanistan listserv, go to: https://lists.mayfirst.org/mailman/listinfo/octoberactions

For October 5th in DC Logistics, Housing, Food, Transportation & Legal information, go to: www.warresisters.org/logistics

For Resources for Organizing for October 5th, go to: http://www.warresisters.org/october5-resources

And if you can’t make it all the way to D.C., there will also be local actions and educational events against the war across the country on October 7 and again on October 17. To learn more, click here and here.

Get information on local October 7 actions in New York!

We just heard from the folks at the Metta Center about an upcoming conference in October that should be really worthwhile:

Sixth Annual
Gandhi-King Conference on Peacemaking
October 23-25, 2009
Memphis, TN

Less than two weeks left for Early Registration!!!!

ENDS SEPTEMBER 15

Don’t miss this opportunity to engage with experts on issues of justice, nonviolence, sustainability, education, community building and more!!!

Featuring: Rev. CT Vivian, lifelong civil rights activist • Kathy Kelly, Voices for Creative Nonviolence • Mubarak Awad, Nonviolence International • Barbara Love, United to End Racism • Rudy Balles, PeaceJam Foundation • Michael Nagler, Metta Center

Workshops by: United to End Racism, Community Media Workshop, National War Tax Resistance, the Matrix Center, and more!!!

Learn more and register at gandhikingconference.org.