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The Color of Alternatives? Rethinking Nonviolent Actions in the Twenty-First Century

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2024

Chaiwat Satha-Anand
Chaiwat Satha-Anand*
Affiliation:
Thammasat University, Thailand
*
Chaiwat Satha-Anand, Faculty of Political Sciences, Thammasat University, Pra Chan rd, Bangkok, 10200, Thailand. Email: chaiwatpong@yahoo.com
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Abstract

This article argues that nonviolence in the twenty-first century would increasingly be moving towards the color gray by addressing three related questions. First, given the way in which the media reported the news, how can the twentieth century be remembered especially in relation to what has taken place at the dawn of the twenty-first century? Second, how should “unusual” nonviolent protest actions – throwing shit, blood, and shoes at people – be construed from the perspective of nonviolent alternatives? Third, as more parties become interested and consequently nonviolent actions become widespread, are they becoming less of an alternative and more of a normal course of action? As a result of the mainstreaming nonviolence trend, has anything been taken away from it? Confronting these questions as a way to critically examine the prospects for nonviolent actions at present, the paper concludes with a philosophical argument in favor of gray as the color of nonviolent alternatives in the twenty-first century.

Type
Articles
Information
Diogenes , Volume 61 , Issue 3-4: Theories and Practices of Non-Violence , August 2014 , pp. 143 - 155
Copyright
Copyright © ICPHS 2016

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