We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Thursday, March 15, 2012

The Seven Year Brouhaha over Gene Sharp

Click here to access article by Dr Stuart Jeanne Bramhall from The Most Revolutionary Act. 
(This is the second of five posts about the American godfather of nonviolent resistance, Gene Sharp, and the role of CIA and Pentagon-funded foundations and think tanks in funding and promoting nonviolent resistance)
My interest in this subject has been aroused by a number of curious experiences I've had in various progressive organizations: the heavy emphasis placed on non-violence and non-violence training even when there were no street actions contemplated or in such non-politically activist organizations as I witnessed recently in a local Transition Towns group.

Be sure to read the comments section following the article for more insights.
at
Labels: ,