Top-Rated Free Essay
Preview

Is Non Violence an Effective Form of Protest? Why or Why Not?

Good Essays
436 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Is Non Violence an Effective Form of Protest? Why or Why Not?
Is non violence an effective form of protest? Why or why not?
Non-violence is a very effective form of protest because people can get the rights and authority that they fight for from the hostile class, government or country without sanguinary wars. Non-violence is a philosophy and strategy for social change that rejects the use of violence. In history, there are several successful revolutions that show this form of revolt is absolutely efficacious. First of all, non-violent protest is effective because it either allows the protesters greater control of their message, and even if meet with violent suppress from government, it still lowers the authority of the state. For example, in Indian Non Cooperation Movement led by Gandhi in 1920’s, it included surrender of titles, resignation from nominated seats in local government bodies, boycott of government educational institutions, law courts and foreign goods. In addition, from March 1930 to April 1934, Gandhi also called the Indian people to process the Civil Disobedience Movement, which was known as Salt Satyagraha. Through these decades-long nonviolent struggles, India won its independence in from the British Empire.
On the other hand, non-violent protesters usually focus on the media to state their call, which means acting in self-defense, but some times they lose control of non-violence fight theme. In such situations the government can claim to be protecting law and order. Then the state can easily use the threat of violent demonstration as a tool against the protesters. Like among the Non Cooperation Movement, over 2000 Indian arrested because they lost their control and burned police office with 22 policemen. More over, even if Salt Law was broken in 1931 through Salt Satyagraha, Gandhi was arrested along his followers.
And also, non-violent protest puts the protester on a higher moral level and may give the society to overlook the underlying causes of unrest and merely wish for law and order. No matter how just the cause, a society generally prefers slow harmonious change over bloody violence in the streets. Unlike an ordinary law breaker, the non-violent protester is also at the same time showing his commitment to the overall harmony of the society. But this strongly requires that any authority reveal its own dedication to harmony by showing a certain respect or in fact as moral as protesters. Non-violent protest is effective at not only having the message heard but actually listened to by the greater society. If met with violence, it shows a society that the society has much deeper problems than the cause of a particular protest.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Nonviolence has proven to be a more effective method of obtaining one’s goals when it…

    • 2937 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gandhi Dbq Analysis

    • 548 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Gandhi used civil disobedience, the act of defying laws peacefully, as a way for him to spread his idea of an independent India across the globe. The British imposed salt tax law on colonial India, which heavily taxed salt and prohibited Indians from making their own salt. Gandhi recognized the unfairness of the tax, as Indian workers rely heavily on salt to keep them healthy, while the British had less need for the salt. (Doc. A) Because of this unfairness, Gandhi held The Salt March, in an act of civil disobedience he led thousands of his followers to the sea to make their own salt. Gandhi’s vision of nonviolence was strictly followed by the participants.…

    • 548 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mahatma Gandhi employed a campaign of peaceful resistance in the first half of the twentieth so that India could be independent from Great Britain and possess institutions that protected the rights of Indians. Some years later, American civil rights organizations continued this approach, organizing sit-ins and marches to force governments to change policies that discriminated against African Americans. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote that civil disobedience,“seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue”. It uses the power of the people to force institutional action. Civil disobedience tactics can be just as effective today, just look at Cedric Herrou a French farmer who illegally transported African migrants into France for humanitarian reasons.…

    • 794 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Peaceful defiance of laws effectiveness is all in the eye of the beholder. If done correctly it can bring attention to the movement in a positive light. However if it causes to much of a nuisance to people that do not support the cause it will receive much opposition. The most effective peaceful defiance of laws in my opinion would be the Civil Rights movements of the 50s and 60s. With their leaders they perfectly blended the ability to get their word out with complying with others to achieve what they wanted. Now at the time their tactics must have been a nuisance, but that is why it worked so well. They implicated many plans that involved people of all age and even all race to make people see how badly they were beimg treated.That is unlike…

    • 513 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nonviolent struggle has been utilized countless times throughout the history of civilization. Contrary to popular belief, many of the world’s greatest wars are fought free of violence. Nonviolent actions offer an alternative approach to conflict resolution; one that does not resort to literal war and prevents blood shedding. The motivation behind these struggles vary, but the desired outcome is always to promote or prevent a change. Conflicts are diverse, and typically they are concerned with social, economic, ethnic, religious, national, humanitarian, and political matters (Sharp, 2005, p. 15).…

    • 307 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gandhi used non-violent tactics to free British rule in India. Martin Luther King Jr. mostly used…

    • 776 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It becomes a kind of despotism where we seek to silence rather than engage.” Civil disobedience is a necessary part of free society, as it provides an avenue from which all people can make themselves heard, regardless of political power or economic status. Furthermore, it is necessary to keep the spirit of the first amendment alive, as peaceful protest is a way in which people exercise their right to free speech; without peaceful resistance to laws, little progress would be made in a free society, and the views of the majority would be imposed on the rest of the population. Acting as a catalyst for change, peaceful resistance one ingredient of the recipe that drives a free nation towards growth and…

    • 753 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Peaceful disobedience not only positively impacts our society, but was strongly encouraged and considered necessary in both the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration states multiple times that there is a certain social contract that is put in place with a successful government, one where The People give up some of their power for the protection of their basic rights. It is also stated that if these basic rights are not protected, “it is their right, it is their duty” (the people’s) to protest and let the government know. The idea, originating from John Locke, adapted by Thomas Jefferson, states that as people it is not only a right we have but a God-given DUTY. You are a human being, and because of that you were…

    • 755 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nonviolence was used when SNCC groups, first in North Carolina later in many other locations throughout the South, integrated business like cafes through the use of sit-ins. In some cases they would fill up counters that would only serve white and in shifts sit there all day. They would endure mental and physical torment. If these students decided to retaliate in self-defense against their tormenters they would have most likely been thrown in jail. They would have moved away from the goal of integration because all the students would have been in jail or worse instead of sitting at the counters making the businesses lose profit.…

    • 581 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In conclusion, through the details I have mentioned earlier I believe that peaceful resistance to laws have a positive impact on a society. If you look back through history this has almost always been the case. On the other hand, if you look back on what violent resistance has accomplished it is basically…

    • 535 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Non Violent Revolutions

    • 1175 Words
    • 5 Pages

    That is understandable, but, the reality is, small nonviolent groups can easily be stopped and dismissed in the media. For example, during the Arab Spring in 2011, the 6 April Organization from Egypt, was arrested in the city of Alexandria because law enforcement felt their singing of the national anthem would provoke trouble (Soueif 74-76). Ultimately, nonviolent protests are too easy to be brushed aside by top officials, which hinders their effectiveness. It is clear that violent revolutions are more effective than non-violent revolutions because the fear the revolution causes sparks change, should be seen as a self-defense mechanism against governments, and creates a sense of unity between the…

    • 1175 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Peaceful Protest

    • 681 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Gandhi preached non violence at all costs, even in the face of harsh British retaliation in several cases. In this method, he created one of the largest protest movements of all time in support of Indian self rule. In his famous Salt March to the sea, Gandhi led hundreds of thousands of Indians in a 250 mile march to the sea against an extremely unjust salt taxation, and against the British rule as a whole. Hundreds of thousands joined, and despite harsh reactions by the British, was completely peaceful on the part of the protestors. This march gained international sympathy, and led to the dismissal of the salt tax by the British. Gandhi was eventually successful in making India self ruling, the entire time devoted to nonviolent methods. In this way, a new democratic society rose up through nonviolent…

    • 681 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Politics in a country are an essential, a must to make it successful proceeding in non-violent resistance would allow the politic branch to prosper. Calm, peaceful talking to one an-others leader creating an agreement, making a compromise is much better than killing innocent people. Participating in non-violent war would allow leaders to communicate without it being hated due to anger of deaths, damage, or money loss. Making politics peaceful and calm would ensure that everyone would have a say in the agreement and that it would be well thought out agreement. Even though the leaders/countries disagree with each other, communicating would be more effective than killing their citizens. If protests and strikes went on instead of war, negotiations could be made to help both parties of the argument at hand.…

    • 1391 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Peaceful Revolutions

    • 690 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Successful political revolutions in the last three decades have been dominated by masses of unarmed people. They have challenged the present political establishment and refused to obey orders, often at central places in the capitals. Different from the traditional armed guerillas confronting the state army these movements have not used deadly means, not even when confronted with violent police and militaries. These cases are on crucial points different from the traditional revolutions like the French, Russian, Chinese or Cuban ones. The understanding of these movements draws on research on social movements as well as revolutionary theories and the nonviolent tradition within peace research. The role of the nonviolent means by large groups has been vital but not sufficient for the successful outcomes.…

    • 690 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mohandas Gandhi launched a policy of nonviolent noncooperation against the British following the Massacre at Amritsar in 1919 (Boss, 2012). He used his moral outrage guided by reason to effect change in the cultural norms of India and ultimately helped India gain independence in 1947. Gandhi’s efforts have greatly impacted social and political reform, and have influenced later civil rights movements.…

    • 919 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays