How Nonviolence Protects the State
Talk by author Peter Gelderloos
When -
Friday 1. February from 6:00pm until 8:00 pm
.
Where - Cowley Club (find it on a map) .
Organised by - Cowley Club.
People working for social change face plenty of difficult questions, but
sometimes matters of strategy and tactics receive low priority. Among many activists, the role of nonviolence as the default mode of struggle bears little scrutiny. Even as it claims to contain moral strength however, nonviolence can be a major obstacle in global movements for social change.
Peter Gelderloos lays out in his book how nonviolence is based on a number of historical falsifications that enforce an inaccurate understanding of revolution, it protects white privilege and the privilege of the Global North, it can reinforce patriarchal dynamics, and it makes anti-authoritarians complicit with the authorities, preserving the State monopoly of force. Ultimately, nonviolence is created and encouraged by the State, and antithetical to anarchist revolution.
The talk will start at 6pm, entry is free and all are welcome. The Cowley bar will open at 8pm and there will a gig (Karaktermoord from Holland, Burning the Prospect and more) and further discussion, if wanted, will move to the Cowley Meeting House at the back of the club.
