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For peace advocates a corollary to Clausewitz's dictum that “war is politics by other means” might be that other politics could prevent war. By highlighting both individual peace advocates and antiwar/peace organizations from World War I through the wars of the 21st century, the chapters will provide insights into how these individuals and organizations articulated their opposition to and mobilized against specific wars and international/regional conflicts. Organized roughly in chronological order, each chapter will illuminate the socio-historical conditions under which such peace advocacy contested state aggression and armed combat at the national and/or transnational levels. Beyond understanding the specific socio-historical circumstances within which these antiwar and peace advocates and organizations operated and their resultant achievements and failures, the book as a whole will examine the kind of politics that perpetuate war and those that offer a challenge to that perpetuation. Scholars, students, and the general public interested in the history of modern and contemporary wars, peace and conflict studies, and ethical/political perspectives in the 20th and 21st centuries should find much to reflect upon in this book.

'Akst argues that the modern progressive movement, wide-ranging in its causes and narratives today, has origins in the pacifist response to American involvement in World War II... At its best, one gets the sense of generative force born from such intense intellectual, moral and religious pressure.'-- The Washington Post Pacifists who fought against the Second World War faced insurmountable odds—but their resistance, philosophy, and strategies fostered a tradition of activism that shaped America right up to the present day.In this provocative and deeply researched work of history, Akst takes readers into the wild, heady, and uncertain times of America on the brink of a world war, following four fascinating resisters -- four figures who would subsequently become famous political thinkers and activists -- and their daring exploits: David Dellinger, Dorothy Day, Dwight MacDonald, and Bayard Rustin. The lives of these diverse anti-war advocates--a principled and passionate seminary student, a Catholic anarchist, a high-brow intellectual leftist, and an African-American pacifist and agitator--create the perfect prism through which to see World War II from a new angle, that of the opposition, as well as to show how great and lasting their achievements were.The resisters did not stop the war, of course, but their impact would be felt for decades. Many of them went on to lead the civil-rights and anti-Vietnam War movements, the two most important social stands of the second half of the twentieth century. The various World War II resisters pioneered non-violent protest in America, popularized Gandhian principles, and desegregated the first prison mess halls. Theirs is a story that has never been told.

Pacifist Warrior introduces Robert Pickus, his leadership role in the pacifist community (1951–2016), and his thoughtful work to constructively engage the United States in world politics. He called for leadership by the United States to move a conflict-filled world towards peace through non-military initiatives, designed to gain the reciprocation of allies and dedicated adversaries alike. Robert Pickus earned the title “Pacifist Warrior” because he not only believed pacifism in a nuclear age was a moral imperative, it was also a more effective strategy towards a world without war. Pickus'career lasted from 1951 to 2016. As Director of the World Without War Council office in Berkeley, he engaged civic, labor, business, and religious organizations to work for a world without war. He worked at the juncture where advocates of war-as-a-last-resort met community peace advocates to develop non-military alternatives to war. His signature contribution was a compendium of American Peace Initiatives developed with other key leaders, including George Weigel, Harold Guetzkow, Sidney Hook and Ted Sorensen. During his tenure, the WWWC developed a strategy of American peace initiatives to get from here to a world without war. The ideas of reciprocation, universal participation and non-violent change apply to both arms control and disarmament as well as climate change.

This book explores the movement experience of thirty Colorado peace activists, whose names are changed to conceal their identities. It provides a brief summary of the main currents of collective action theory, noting some of the existing research about participation in social movements.

Tim Gee tells the story of why he became a pacifist and what it means to him. Gee reflects on the lives of peacemakers past and present to provide responses to questions like “Don't we have to hit back if we're hurt?”, “Don't we need war to respond to evil?” and “Doesn't religion justify wars?”. This is a critique of war, but more than that, it stakes a claim for pacifism's feminist and anti-racist qualities. This is a call for a more nonviolent world.

There is an expectation in Jewish communities around the world that all Jews embrace Zionism and offer unquestioning support for Israel, ‘right or wrong'. Jewish identity and Zionism are commonly and deliberately blurred. Jews who criticise Israel or question Zionism are often excluded, vilified and threatened. If they express sympathy for the plight of the Palestinian people, they risk being branded as traitors and accused of ‘supporting the enemies of Israel'.Beyond Tribal Loyalties is a unique collection of twenty-five personal stories of Jewish peace activists from Australia, Canada, Israel, the United Kingdom and the United States. There is an age difference of more than fifty years between the oldest and the youngest contributor. The stories focus on the complex and intensely personal journey that Jewish activists go through to free themselves from the hold of Zionist ideology and its requirement to support all Israeli policies. Like many Jews, most of the contributors were once unquestioning supporters of Israel and Zionism. Something happened in the life of each of these extraordinary people that caused them to question and re-evaluate their understanding of the conflict and their relationship with Israel and the Palestinian people. In many cases this journey involved a reassessment of personal values, belief systems and identity. Beyond Tribal Loyalties seeks to discover what makes it possible for Jewish peace activists to follow through with this transformative journey and their activist work, despite fanatical and sometimes violent opposition.This is an inspiring book for anyone who is interested in the experience of being a peace activist. It offers a fresh and unusual angle on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and is a unique contribution in a field where political analysis is common, but where the personal angle is often lacking.Find Beyond Tribal Loyalties on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/pages/Beyond-Tribal-Loyalties-Personal-Stories-of-Jewish-Peace-Activists/116150431829716?sk=wall

Millions of people around the world live in countries torn apart by war, where violence and suffering are part of everyday life. Yet in all those countries there are groups of people working for peace in the midst of war, standing up for human rights and decency. What difference can they make? What can be done to support them, and to help dialogue to happen in the midst of hostility and violence? This book examines these questions, focusing on the roles that ordinary people can play as peace builders in societies where violence and antagonism have become the norm, where inter-communal relationships are fractured or where institutions and the rule of law have collapsed. It examines the theory and practice of conflict transformation and its relevance for different cultures and contexts. Using extensive case studies taken from practical workshops - the most frequently used form of conflict intervention - in the Balkans and around the world, it shows both the power and the complexity of such encounters.