University of Mississippi eGrove Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 2012 Nonviolent Bodies and the Experience of Breakdown in the American Movement for Civil Rights Danielle Andersen Follow this and additional works at: https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd Part of the American Studies Commons Recommended Citation Andersen, Danielle, "Nonviolent Bodies and the Experience of Breakdown in the American Movement for Civil Rights" (2012). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 35. https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/35 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at eGrove. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of eGrove. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. NONVIOLENT BODIES AND THE EXPERIENCE OF BREAKDOWN IN THE AMERICAN MOVEMENT FOR CIVIL RIGHTS A Thesis presented in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Southern Studies The University of Mississippi by DANIELLE ANDERSEN May 2012 Copyright Danielle Andersen 2012 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ABSTRACT This thesis examines the experience of personal breakdown in the American Civil Rights Movement. It proposes that breakdown was triggered in individuals by the practice of nonviolence and contends that breakdown precipitated the Movement’s shift away from nonviolence toward the more self-protective posture of black power. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………..ii INTRODUCTION: Elizabeth Eckford and the Burden of Change……………………...1 CHAPTER 1: Voices on Violence: King, Fanon, and Arendt…………………………..19 CHAPTER 2: Civil Disobedience and Nonviolence…………………………………....34 CHAPTER 3: The Anatomy of Breakdown…………………………………………….59 CONCLUSION: Myrlie Evers-Williams and the Gift of the Body…………………….88 BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………………91 VITA…………………………………………………………………………………….93 iii iv I.