Study Guide: Holmes, Robert L. and Barry Gan. Nonviolence In Theory And Practice.

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Professors Holmes and Gan have compiled a collection of more than fifty short writings by many of the leading thinkers about the theory and practice of nonviolence. Part One is on the Origins of Nonviolence. The readings range across excerpts from Lao-Tze, The Dhammapada, and Bhagavad-Gita to Plato and Thoreau. The second Part is Three Modern Philosophers of Nonviolence: Tolstoy, Gandhi, and King. The standard Tolstoy's Letter to Ernest Howard Crosby and King's Letter from Birmingham Jail surround Gandhi's On Satyagraha and Joan Bondurant's Satyagraha in Action. Part Three includes Barbara Deming and Liane Ellison Norman writing about Women and Nonviolence. William James, A.A. Milne, and Jessie Hughan articles on Pacifism are the core of Part Four. Part Five on the Practice of Nonviolence features Thich Nhat Hanh, Gene Sharp, Albert Schweitzer, and Arundhati Roy. The final Part has Examples of Nonviolence with stories from the recent history of South Africa, the Philippines, and Lithuania. The nonviolent resistance in Norway and Holland during WWII and the work of Cesar Chavez are among several other examples.

Study Questions | Topics for Further Research | Videos | Internet Resources

Study Questions

1. What does Holmes say in the Introduction and Prefaces about his purpose in creating this book?

2. Holmes writes in the Preview to Part One that "most of the philosophical and religious thinking about [nonviolence] began in the Eastern world." Give specific evidence to support this statement from the readings of this section.

3. Summarize Thoreau's objections to what his happening in the U.S. during his time and what he recommends doing about it.

4. Recast the main points of the writings by Tolstoy, Gandhi, and King as advice to a young person on how to live life. In what ways does their advice differ?

5. Select one of the assigned writings, such as the Letter from Birmingham Jail and carefully analyze it by considering what can be learned from the writing itself about the author, context and intended audience, purpose, style, and form of construction and argumentation. Augment this information as useful with additional reading about the situation in which it was written and the author's beliefs.

6. Compare the beliefs and actions of Molly Rush, Barbara Deming, and the early female (and male) abolitionists and suffragists described in Bacon's article on Nonviolence and Women.

7. Summarize James' position on alternatives to war.

8. Read Hughan's Pacifism and Invasion, and the short historical articles on South Africa, the Philippines, Norway and Holland, and Lithuania. To what extent were Hughan's ideas implemented in theses countries and with what success?

9. Compare the approached to "personal perfection" described by Thich Nhat Hanh, Sister Chan Khong, and Richard Taylor.

10. Summarize Gene Sharp's approach to the practice of nonviolence.

Topics for further research

• Seek more information about the authors, opinions, and historical events of the text by using one or more of the web sites on page 383.

• Gather current information on events in Northern Ireland, Palestine, Sri Lanka, and other places where there is ongoing nonviolent activity to avoid war or lessen violence.
  

Videos-on reserve at Hatfield Library

Amandla! (Dir. Lee Hirsh, 2002, 103 min.) Call no: DT 1757 .A525 2003

The American Adventure: Reforming the Republic (PBS, 1987, 30 min.) Call no: E 338 .A54 1987

Bowling for Columbine (Dir. Michael Moore, 2002, 119 min.) Call no: HV 7436 .B68 2003

Cry Freedom: MCA Home Video, 1988, 157 mins.) Call no: PN1995.9.D7 C8 1988

Facing the Truth (Dir. Gail Pellett, 1998, 120 min.[2 vols. 60 minutes each]) Call no: DT 1757 .F33 1999

A Force More Powerful: A Century of Nonviolent Conflict (Films for the Humanities & Sciences, 2000, [6 videocassettes] 174 min.) Call no: JZ5574 .F67 2000

v. 1. Nashville: "We were warriors" (32 min.)
v. 2. India: "Defying the Crown" (30 min.)
v. 3. South Africa: "Freedom in our lifetime" (34 min.)
v. 4. Denmark: "Living with the Enemy" (31 min.)
v. 5. Poland: "We've caught God by the arm" (31 min.)
v. 6. Chile: "Defeat of a dictator" (34 min.)

Long Night's Journey into Day (Dirs. Frances Reid & Deborah Hoffmann, 2000, 95 min.) Call No.: DT1757 .L66 2000

The Mahabharata (Dir. Peter Brook, 2002, 325 min.) Call no.: PN 1995.9.L5 M18 2002

The New Patriots (Dir. Robert Richter, 2002, 18 min.) Call no.: U 428.A75 N48 2002

The Road to Peace: Israelis and Palestinians (Dir. Yaron Shemer, 1995, 58 min.) Call no.: DS 119.76 .R62 1995

Women & War (Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, 2000, 52 min.) Call no.: U 21.75 .W62 2000