The Conquest of Violence: An Essay on War and Revolution

Author(s): Bart de Ligt

Garland, New York, 1972, pp. 308

Originally published: 1935

and London, Pluto Press, 1989 (with Introduction by Peter van den Dungen), pp. 306.

Classic argument for nonviolent resistance from an anarchist anti-war perspective, with a broad historical perspective, and giving more emphasis to examples of unarmed resistance in the socialist tradition (for example 1905 in Russia) than much of the early literature.

Refusing to Bear Arms: A World Survey of Conscription and Conscientious Objection to Military Service

Foreword by Devid Prasad

Author(s): Bart Horeman, and Marc Stolwijk

War Resisters' International, London, 1998, pp. 310

The most authoritative country by country survey of the position on conscription and conscientious objection in all member states of the UN, following the same formula in each case and setting out legal possibilities for avoiding military service. Historical overview of the evolution of conscription and conscientious objection appended to many country reports. There are also often additional sections on forced recruitment by non-governmental armed groups. Each report is dated. The online version includes updates, especially 2008, on all the countries (and then candidate countries) in the Council of Europe, see http://www.wri-irg.org/co/rtba/index.html. The 2008 update also published separately as: War Resisters' International, Professional soldiers and the right to conscientious objection in the European Union, Brussels, Tobias Pfluger MEP, European Parliamentary Group European United Left/Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL), 2008 , pp. 60

Available online at:

http://www.wri-irg.org/en/co/rtba/index.html

Is a New Arab Spring Unfolding in the Middle East?

Author(s): BBC

2019

BBC Middle East editor briefly surveys the demonstrations in Lebanon and Iraq, notes attempted protests in Egypt, and  discusses the frustration and rage of young people over educational failures and unemployment, as well as rampant corruption.  He comments on the security forces firing on Iraqi demonstrators, and on reports that men in black (sometimes masked) who might be pro-Iranian militias were opening fire, Bowen also notes that some Iraqi soldiers have wrapped the national flag around their shoulders, suggesting sympathy for the protesters.

Available online at:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-50219821

Rebuilding the antinuclear movement

Author(s): Ray Acheson, Loreta Castro, Beatrice Fihn, Linnet Ngayu, and Carlos Umaña

In: The Nation, 2018

Discusses dominant narratives about nuclear weapons as tools of “safety” and “security” and “peace,” and the need to reinforce of a mass social movement against nuclear weapons.  The authors also outline the emergence and core activities of the International Coalition to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).

On ICAN see https://www.icanw.org 

Available online at:

https://www.thenation.com/article/rebuilding-antinuclear-movement/

War and Peace in the Gulf: Testimony of the Gulf Peace Team

Author(s): Bela Bbatia, Jean Dreze, and Kathy Kelly

Spokesman Books, Nottingham, 2001, pp. 181

Account by participants of transnational team which went to Iraq to try to intervene between the two sides in the 1991 Gulf War. (See also Robert J. Burrowes, ‘The Persian Gulf War and the Gulf Peace Team’ in Moser-Puangsuwan and Weber, Nonviolent Intervention Across Borders, pp. 305-18 – 209 below.)

Argentina’s abortion vote was a stepping stone not a setback

Author(s): Belski Mariela

In: Time, 2018

In a positive light, Belski discusses the advances in the fight to legalise abortion in Argentina, despite the Senate refusing to pass a bill legalising abortion in 2018. She notes the change in language by the media whilst referring to women and men; the establishment of mainstream discourses on sexual harassment and gender-based violence, and the recognition of the symbolic power of the handkerchiefs that identify the widespread pro-choice movement in Argentina and the rest of Latin America.

See also http://socialistworker.org/2018/08/16/the-people-versus-the-parliament-in-argentina

For the re-launch of the campaign for legal abortion see https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/02/abortion-rights-campaigners-flood-streets-buenos-aires-190220143549930.html

Available online at:

http://time.com/5363764/argentina-abortion-vote-progress/

Generation H K: Seeking Identity in China's Shadow

Author(s): Ben Bland

Penguin, London, 2017, pp. 140

(A Penguin Special and one in a series on Hong Kong)

The author charts the attitudes of the generation who grew up since 1997, arguing that they have a distinctive Hong Kong identity, detached from Britain's legacy and far from identifying with mainland China, but aware of pressure from Beijing. He follows the stories of 'activists turned politicians', 'artists resisting censorship' and. some connected with the world of high finance, making comparisons with other Asian countries he has covered as a journalist.

The Philippine democratic uprising and the contradictions of neoliberalism: EDSA II

Author(s): Ben Reid

In: Third World Quarterly, Vol 22, No 5, 2001, pp. 777-793

Analysis of Estrada regime and the protests that led to his overthrow and replacement by Aroyo. The article is also a critique of western commentators who deplore the popular uprising, and an attack on a neoliberal conception of democracy. The author concludes that the 2001 rebellion was ultimately an elite controlled process, transferring power to a different faction of the elite, but also a model of popular mobilization and empowerment.

Comiso

Author(s): Ben Thompson

Merlin Press jointly with END, London, 1982, pp. 17

Account of transnational direct action against nuclear missile base in Sicily.

Daughter of the East: An Autobiography

Author(s): Benazir Bhutto

Mandarin, London, 1989, pp. 402

A memoir by Bhutto’s daughter, who was a central figure in the campaign for democracy in the 1980s, which takes her story almost up to the November 1988 elections and her becoming Prime Minister. Although the focus is personal, includes material on the wider political context and the growing popular resistance.

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