Nonviolence insights

‘You’ve been working a long time towards a more nonviolent society. What have you learned? Can you tell me?’ That’s basically what we asked eleven experienced and committed individuals. We wanted to learn some of the insights they had acquired over many years of action and reflection. Our interviews were open-ended. We talked to nonviolent activists, trainers, educators and community-builders. Six were from the Netherlands and five from Australia. Six were men and five were women. Their ages ranged from 20s to 60s. Many are quite well known in nonviolence circles and beyond. We took extensive notes on the interviews, wrote down all the insights, classified them into categories (such as education and cultural context), and amalgamated, rearranged, edited and sometimes rewrote them. Then we sent the result to all the interviewees for further comment. This list of insights is just a beginning. There are thousands of other experienced proponents of nonviolence, with many additional insights. You may disagree with some of the points here, or perhaps find some of them obscure. We hope, though, that you will find some new ideas or helpful reminders. If you can find just one helpful thing to take away, then the exercise is worthwhile.