The Nonviolence Handbook

Love Is Stronger Than Hate

“Nonviolence is not the recourse of the weak but actually calls for an uncommon kind of strength; it is not a refraining from something but the engaging of a positive force,” renowned peace activist Michael Nagler writes. Here he offers a step-by-step guide to creatively using nonviolence to confront any problem and to build change movements capable of restructuring the very bedrock of society.

Nagler identifies some specific tactical mistakes made by unsuccessful nonviolent actions such as the Tiananmen Square demonstrations and the Occupy protests and includes stories of successful nonviolent resistance from around the world, including an example from Nazi Germany. And he shows that nonviolence is more than a tactic—it is a way of living that will enrich every area of our lives.Foreword
ONE: An Introduction to Nonviolence
Fight, Flight, and the Third Way
The Uses of Nonviolence
Satyagraha: A New Term for an Eternal Principle

TWO: Right Intention: Cultivating a Nonviolent Soul
The Person Is Not the Problem
Five Basic Training Practices for Nonviolent Living

THREE: Right Means: Knowing Where We Stand
How Much Nonviolence Is Enough?
When Nothing Else Will Work

FOUR: Putting Nonviolent Energy to Work
Proportionality
The Art of Compromise
What Do We Really Want?
Building it Right: The Secret of Constructive Program

FIVE: Peering into the Heart of Satyagraha
Seeing the Real Results
Coping with Success
The Importance (or Not) of Numbers
How Useful Are Symbols?
Can Nonviolence Be Misused?
The Role of Suffering in Satyagraha
Fasting in Satyagraha
Taking Control

SIX: What Have We Learned?
A Way of Being
A Movement Over-sweeping the World

Highlights: A Handy Reference
Notes
Acknowledgments
For Further Reading and Viewing
Index
About the Author
About Metta“Understanding nonviolence as an energy present in all of us is key to putting it to work in our own lives and in the troubled life of our world. This is a very powerful little volume—it will shake you up in wonderful ways!”
—Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org and author of Oil and Honey and The End of Nature

“In a few short pages, Michael Nagler has been able to present the accumulated wisdom of activists, prophets, and social theorists in a way that is powerfully instructive, accessible, and deeply moving.”
—Rabbi Michael Lerner, Editor-in-Chief, Tikkun, and Chair, Network of Spiritual Progressives 

“Only Michael Nagler could make such a cogent and persuasive case for nonviolence while delivering profound new insights, pearls of wisdom, and practical recommendations along the way.”
—Erica Chenoweth, Associate Professor, Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver, and Associate Senior Researcher, Peace Research Institute Oslo.
Michael N. Nagler is the founder and president of the Metta Center for Nonviolence. He cofounded the Peace and Conflict Studies Program at UC Berkeley, where he is professor emeritus of classics and comparative literature.