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Nonviolent Weapons

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Nonviolent Weapons 1 Nonviolent Weapons The Transnationalism of Nonviolent Resistance Liam Comer-Weaver Dept. of International Affairs, University of Colorado April 1, 2015 Thesis Advisor: Dr. Lucy Chester Defense Committee: Dr. Victoria Hunter Dr. Benjamin Teitelbaum 2 Abstract This thesis takes a deep historical look at the adaptation of Mohandas Gandhi’s nonviolent ideology and strategy in the civil rights movement in the AmeriCan South in order to understand the Composition, ConstruCtion, and behavior of the modern nonviolent movement known as 15M in Spain. The Complete translation of Gandhi’s repertoire resulted in the formation of subversive groups, or Contentious Communities, whiCh shared the Common goal of desegregation and Cultural integration of the southern black population. These Contentious Communities regrouped in nonviolent efforts, and interaCted as a groupusCule with the same ideology. This adaptation of nonviolent ideology and strategy also recently occurred in what is known as the 15M movement in Spain. The 15M movement is similarly Composed of many diverse Contentious Communities whose ColleCtive purpose is eConomiC equality and inCreased representation in government. 3 Table of Contents Glossary of Key Terms and Organizations .................................................................................. 4 Preface ...................................................................................................................................... 6 Part I: Nonviolent Resistance Campaigns ................................................................................... 8 Nonviolent ResistanCe ................................................................................................................................................................ 8 Campaigns and Their Likelihood of NonviolenCe ......................................................................................................... 10 The Case Studies Chosen .......................................................................................................................................................... 12 Ideology and Contentious-Community-Based GroupusCule Formation ............................................................. 12 Methodology .................................................................................................................................................................................. 14 Part II: The Ethic ...................................................................................................................... 16 Two Types of Nonviolence ...................................................................................................................................................... 16 Viewing Gandhi as a pure virtue ethiCist .......................................................................................................................... 17 Gandhi’s Pragmatism ................................................................................................................................................................. 19 The Complete Gandhian Nonviolent EthiC ....................................................................................................................... 20 Part III: Transfer of Nonviolent Ideology and Strategy .............................................................. 22 Martin Luther King’s IntroduCtion to Nonviolence ...................................................................................................... 22 A Model for the Transnational Movement of Ideology: ColleCtive Learning Through Translation ........ 22 Tracing Transnational Ideology: The Arrival of Gandhian Nonviolence to the USA ..................................... 24 Collective Learning in FOR ....................................................................................................................................................... 26 Adaptation of Gandhian Strategy: 6 Component Satyagraha ................................................................................... 30 Meta-Politics .................................................................................................................................................................................. 30 Forming Contentious Communities ..................................................................................................................................... 33 Ashram ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 38 Assembly and March ................................................................................................................................................................... 39 Groupuscule .................................................................................................................................................................................... 41 Exit from Meta-Politics .............................................................................................................................................................. 46 Part IV: The Modern Protest .................................................................................................... 49 Methods in Studying the 15M Movement ......................................................................................................................... 49 BaCkground of 15M .................................................................................................................................................................... 50 Source of Indignation: The SINDE LAW ............................................................................................................................. 50 Source of Indignation: Spain’s Economic History .......................................................................................................... 51 Source of Indignation: Macroeconomic Collapse ........................................................................................................... 53 The Birth of the 15M Movement ............................................................................................................................................ 53 15M Adaptation of Gandhian Ideology .............................................................................................................................. 54 15M Adaptation of Gandhian Strategy ............................................................................................................................... 55 Meta- Politics in 15M .................................................................................................................................................................. 56 Contentious Communities Within 15M ............................................................................................................................... 57 Ashram in 15M .............................................................................................................................................................................. 59 15M’s Assembly and March ..................................................................................................................................................... 61 The 15M Groupuscule ................................................................................................................................................................ 62 15M Exiting Meta-Politics ........................................................................................................................................................ 63 Part V: Conclusion and Discussion ............................................................................................ 66 Unresolved Questions ............................................................................................................................................................... 66 Limitations ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 67 Future ResearCh ........................................................................................................................................................................... 67 The Importance of Nonviolence ........................................................................................................................................... 68 Figure 1 ................................................................................................................................... 70 Figure 2 ................................................................................................................................... 70 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................ 71 4 Glossary of Key Terms and Organizations Terms Ahisma: NonviolenCe, ConCeived both as a personal and a politiCal value as an aCtive agent of change (Dalton “Selected Political Writings” 159). Campaign: A series of observable collective actions with at least 1000 participants to achieve a political objective (Chenoweth and Lewis 416-417). Groupuscule: A network of organizations with a similar soCial or politiCal goal. Organizations within groupusCules cooperate either by participating in collective
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