Philosophy
Barbara over at Mahablog has the best work around on the happenings in Burma. As fingers are crossed around the world for the success of the monks and the avoiding of death, several questions are raised about non-violent acts designed to overthrow a repressive regime. Are there certain preconditions which make non-violent tactics more likely to succeed?
* Are there sociological, historical, or cultural facts about the regime or colonial power that make non-violent means more effective? The existence of an independent press that is respected by the oppressing power? the brutality of the oppressors? the place of the military in the government? the nature of the self-image of the oppressive society?
* Because crowds can so easily turn to mobs, we most usually find figures like King and Gandhi associated with these movements. Do you need a charismatic figure as a leader? Does this person have to be associated with the majority religion of the oppressed?
I've always wondered why someone like Ibrahim Rivoga in Kosovo was unsuccessful while others like Gandhi and King were so successful. Is it historical accident or were the sociological stars aligned in some cases and not others? Velvet revolutions are wonderful things, but what do we need to have in place to bring them about?
- Gandhi's Legacy
Yesterday was Mohandas Gandhi's birthday. A brilliant man who was also a stunningly capable leader, two things that do not often get combined, much less come together at the right place at the right time. Now, though, it seems that Gandhi is simply...
- What Is Genocide?
Sat in on a colleagues class yesterday and they were working on a piece by psychologist David Moshman called "Us and Them: Identity and Genocide" where Moshman argues that the traditional definition of genocide is too broad in that it only looks at the...
- What Is The Function Of Thanksgiving?
In one of my favorite passages from his writings, Peter Achinstein distinguishes between three meanings of the word "function," Suppose that a magnificent chair was designed as a throne for a king, i.e., it was designed to seat the king. However, it is...
- Human Conflict...john Horgan's Interview
I am not sure that I agree with the following article. It appears to me that there are three major features that define humanity: Commerce, sex, and conflict."John Horgan on erasing war from the human condition"A conversation with the author of a new...
- Myth/reality--the Old American West
Not the wild and woolly West as we were taught...that there were leagues of justice and mythology should be taken lightly. "In a thorough review of the “West was violent” literature, Bruce Benson (1998) discovered that many historians simply assume...
Philosophy
Non-Violent Success
Barbara over at Mahablog has the best work around on the happenings in Burma. As fingers are crossed around the world for the success of the monks and the avoiding of death, several questions are raised about non-violent acts designed to overthrow a repressive regime. Are there certain preconditions which make non-violent tactics more likely to succeed?
* Are there sociological, historical, or cultural facts about the regime or colonial power that make non-violent means more effective? The existence of an independent press that is respected by the oppressing power? the brutality of the oppressors? the place of the military in the government? the nature of the self-image of the oppressive society?
* Because crowds can so easily turn to mobs, we most usually find figures like King and Gandhi associated with these movements. Do you need a charismatic figure as a leader? Does this person have to be associated with the majority religion of the oppressed?
I've always wondered why someone like Ibrahim Rivoga in Kosovo was unsuccessful while others like Gandhi and King were so successful. Is it historical accident or were the sociological stars aligned in some cases and not others? Velvet revolutions are wonderful things, but what do we need to have in place to bring them about?
- Gandhi's Legacy
Yesterday was Mohandas Gandhi's birthday. A brilliant man who was also a stunningly capable leader, two things that do not often get combined, much less come together at the right place at the right time. Now, though, it seems that Gandhi is simply...
- What Is Genocide?
Sat in on a colleagues class yesterday and they were working on a piece by psychologist David Moshman called "Us and Them: Identity and Genocide" where Moshman argues that the traditional definition of genocide is too broad in that it only looks at the...
- What Is The Function Of Thanksgiving?
In one of my favorite passages from his writings, Peter Achinstein distinguishes between three meanings of the word "function," Suppose that a magnificent chair was designed as a throne for a king, i.e., it was designed to seat the king. However, it is...
- Human Conflict...john Horgan's Interview
I am not sure that I agree with the following article. It appears to me that there are three major features that define humanity: Commerce, sex, and conflict."John Horgan on erasing war from the human condition"A conversation with the author of a new...
- Myth/reality--the Old American West
Not the wild and woolly West as we were taught...that there were leagues of justice and mythology should be taken lightly. "In a thorough review of the “West was violent” literature, Bruce Benson (1998) discovered that many historians simply assume...