International Day of Nonviolence – October 2nd
guest | October 2nd, 2012 in : about cross-culture, conflict & resolution, cultural intelligence, days of significance, General
Today is both the International Day of Nonviolence and the birthday of the Indian freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi.
Mahatma Gandhi was a supporter of nonviolence
Gandhi’s birthday was chosen to mark the International Day of Nonviolence because his role as a promoter of freedom and civil rights movements around the world has been enormous. The day was established by the United Nations in 2007.
Gandhi was one of the first to distinguish between pacifism and nonviolence. Both pacifism and nonviolence oppose war and violence, but nonviolence accepts and embraces the necessity of struggle in achieving social change. Unlike some cases of pacifism, nonviolence never ignores conflict. Nonviolence has many activist elements, whereas pacifism is usually an personal, individual viewpoint and not necessarily connected to politics.
Since Gandhi’s times, nonviolence has developed into a widely accepted political philosophy. The three main categories of nonviolent action are:
1) Protest and persuasion, i.e. street marches
2) Non-cooperation
3) Nonviolent interventions such as blockades and occupations
Unfortunately, most world powers still see violence as the superior technique for resolving conflicts. Scholar Theodore Roszak once said, “People try nonviolence for a week, and when it ‘doesn’t work’ they go back to violence, which hasn’t worked for centuries.”
Tags: Mahatma Gandhi, nonviolence, pacifism, violence
Hello, I'm Deborah Swallow and, for the last fifteen years, I've worked in over thirty countries addressing the complexities of people working internationally across multiple cultures, so individuals and organisations alike can gain an authentic competitive edge and win in international markets. 