A Time – and a Project – for Pacifism and Nonviolence Studies

Abstract

Why is it time to take pacifism and nonviolence studies more seriously? I attempt to show that pacifism and nonviolence studies are not only helpful but are necessary to understand and root out a presumption about violence that has persisted throughout human history, a presumption through which the vast majority of humans on earth experience our world. I am referring to the seemingly universal human inclination to take violence for granted as a necessary – even moral – means for human thriving, safety, and progress. We are told that it is human nature to fight or flee danger. In what follows I explore the possibility that fighting and fleeing may not be natural but cultural, and that they may not exhaust human options in response to danger. I then discuss the presumption of violence and consider the role of pacifist and nonviolence studies in analyzing and even deconstructing it by exploring a reasonable alternative view.