Nonviolence: An Idea Whose Time Has Come

The history of humanity is dominated by violence - it has oppressed and degraded us for centuries. Since Mahatma Gandhi's successful campaign for India's independence, nonviolence has been embraced by freedom fighters such as Martin Luther King Jr, Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama, and Václav Havel. Characterised by courage, love, and freedom, and the belief that no political act can be just or truthful unless it is morally legitimate, nonviolence is a strategy of dissent that uses many methods of civil disobedience - be it strikes, boycotts, or demonstrations - to put an end to the social and political evil that it seeks to resist. In his powerfully argued short book, Ramin Jahanbegloo contends that the time has come for humanity to renew its commitment - politically, economically, and culturally - to the idea of nonviolence.