non-embarrassment

Non-embarrassment is a nonviolent strategic principle employed by Gandhi. “Embarassment,” in this context refers to the alternate definition of embarrass, “to confuse, flummox.”  The principle states that one should never persist actively in a nonviolent resistance campaign towards an opponent while that opponent is distracted. There are two main reasons, both derived from the intention that a nonviolent campaign works as a conversation (primarily through acts rather than words) in which you persuade your opponent of the legitimacy of your position. The first reason is that it is not effective to continue the conversation while your opponent is distracted, because they are not listening to you. The second is that it is an act of good will to allow them time to attend to these other matters, which are unrelated to your cause, since to persist while they are weakened by another challenge would indicate an opportunistic attempt to take advantage of their compromised position in order to defeat them through coercion, rather than your intention to persuade them to the justice of your cause. An example of how Gandhi applied this principle was in 1919 when he called off satyagraha for the duration of the British rail strike; he later called a halt to the movement during each of the World Wars for the same reason.