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D.2.a. Pacifist and Nonviolent Thought

American Friends Service Committee, Speak Truth to Power: A Quaker Search for an Alternative to Violence, Philadelphia PA, American Friends Service Committee, 1955, pp. 71

Manifesto outlining a nonviolent approach to international politics and social change. Influenced the thinking of radical direct actionists in the US and Britain.

Boulding, Elise, Cultures of Peace: The Hidden Side of History, New York, Syracuse University Press, 2000, pp. 347

This collection of essays by the sociologist, Quaker and eminent peace researcher, Elise Boulding, reflects her 50 years of studying family, civic culture, education, the role of women and the nature of a culture of peace. She believes this culture requires the management of differences and a balance between social bonding and autonomy, and often unnoticed examples indicate a potential for the future.      

Ceadel, Martin, Thinking about Peace and War, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1987, pp. 222

A frequently cited analysis and classification of different ways of thinking about war, which examines 5 ‘ideal types’ of ‘militarism’, ‘crusading’, ‘defencism’, ‘pacific-ism’ (representing many ideological and organizational strands within peace movements), and ‘pacifism’.

Chappell, Paul, Soldiers of Peace: How to Wield the Weapon of Nonviolence with Maximum Force, Westport, CT., Prospect Press, 2017, pp. 272

Chappell, an Iraq War veteran, challenges the myths about violence and nonviolence that prevent people from tackling the basic causes of problems in the US and globally.  He discusses the concept of 'peace literacy', the power and dangers of language, and the need to understand nonviolence better.

Chiba, Shin ; Shoenbaum, Thomas, Peace Movements and Pacifism after September 11, Camberley Surrey, UK, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2008, pp. 256

This book provides scholarly Japanese and  East Asian perspectives on how the September 11 2001 attack on the US changed the prospects for international peace. Other chapters explore pacifism from religious (Christian and Islamic) perspectives and also in relation to Kant's philosophy. Japan's postwar 'constitutional pacifism', and specific ways to promote peace in the 21st century are also discussed.

Childress, James F., Moral Responsibility in Conflicts: Essays on Nonviolence, War and Conflict, Baton Rouge, Louisiana State University Press, 1982, pp. 224

Includes chapters on conscientious objection and Reinhold Niebuhr on violent and nonviolent methods.

Hentoff, Nat, The Essays of A.J. Muste, new preface by Jo Ann O. Robinson, New York, Simon and Schuster, 2002, pp. 515

Essays on revolution, nonviolence and pacifism by a key figure on US radical/pacifist left, from 1905 to 1966, commenting in later essays on conscientious objection, opposition to French nuclear tests in Africa, the Civil Rights movement and the opposition to the Vietnam War.

King, Alex, Anti-nuclear protest art that will stop you in your tracks. Never again, Huck, 06/08/2015,

A collection of some of the most iconic artworks from seven decades of anti-nuclear movement aimed at suggesting the rethinking of the idea of living under the shadow on nuclear weapons realised on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Kustermans, Jorg ; Sauer, Tom ; Lootens, Dominiek ; Segaert, Barbara, Pacifism Appeal, Cham, Palgrave Macmillan, 2019, pp. 247

The starting point for this book is the editors’ belief in the need to revive and redefine pacifist thought for the 21st century, on the grounds that just war theory (dominant in recent decades) has proved insufficient, and that rejection of any limits on warfare is obviously undesirable. Pacifism has proved inspirational in the past, so its potential should be explored.

Lipton, Judith ; Barash, David, Strength Through Peace, New York, Oxford University Press, 2019, pp. 261

A study of Costa Rica, which explores the relation between its demilitarized status and its safety, independence, and social wellbeing.

Mayer, Peter, The Pacifist Conscience, Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1966, pp. 447

Collection of writings on war, pacifism and nonviolence from 500 BC to 1960 AD, but emphasis on more modern figures, such as William Lloyd Garrison, Thoreau, Tolstoy, Gandhi, Simone Weil and Albert Camus. Includes also Martin Buber’s criticism of Gandhi for advocating nonviolent resistance by Jews to Hitler, and Reinhold Niebuhr’s reasons for leaving the (pacifist) Fellowship of Reconciliation.

Merton, ThomasZahn, Gordon C., The Nonviolent Alternative, ed. Zahn, Gordon C., New York, Farrar Strauss Giroux, 1980, pp. 270

Collection of essays by well-know Catholic thinker on war, peace and nonviolence.

Teichman, Jenny, Pacifism and the Just War: A Study in Applied Philosophy, Oxford, Blackwell, 1986, pp. 138

Discussion of pacifist theory and major objections to it from a just war perspective.

Unnithan, T.K.N. ; Singh, Yogendra, Traditions of Nonviolence, New Delhi and London, Arnold-Heinemann, 1973, pp. 317

Examines nonviolent traditions in Hindu, Chinese, Islamic and Judeo-Christian thought.

Walzer, Michael, Just and Unjust Wars: A Moral Argument with Historical Illustrations, Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1980, pp. 359

Highly regarded interpretation of just war theory. See also his earlier essays on war and disobedience, including an essay on conscientious objection in: Walzer, Michael , Obligations: Essays on Disobedience, War and Citizenship [1970] Cambridge MA, Harvard University Press, , 1982, pp. 260

Zinn, Howard, The Bomb, San Francisco, CA, City Lights, 2010, pp. 91

In this work, Zinn looks at the negative consequences of combat at the core moral and ethical issues citizens must face during times of war. He reflects on his youthful experience of combat in WWII, which led him to drop bombs on the French town of Royan. His later recognition of what the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki entailed prompted him to become one of the most committed and passionate advocates of non-violence in the USA.