“Non-cooperation in an angry atmosphere is an impossibility.” ~ Gandhi, Mahatma, 2, p. 12 In this apparently puzzling observation we have once again a reminder, which we seem to need so often in our present culture, that intention, state of mind, is what determines the significance, and effectiveness, of our actions. If we withdraw our… read more
Tag Archives: non-cooperation
Motivated by Justice: Daily Metta
“The corresponding duty is to labor with my limbs and the corresponding remedy is to non-cooperate with him who deprives me of the fruit of my labor.” ~ Gandhi, Young India, March 26, 1931, p. 49 Here Gandhi elaborates on his theory of rights and duties. A right, he says, comes with not only a… read more
“Can kids learn non-cooperation?”–Daily Metta
September 18: “Power rightly exercised must sit light as a flower; no one should feel the weight of it.” –Gandhi (Towards New Horizons, Pyarelal, from Mahatma Gandhi, The Last Phase) If society is to learn the art of non-cooperation, education for it should begin in childhood. Well, actually, it already does, but most of us… read more
“No easy task”–Daily Metta
August 1: “It is no easy task to restrain the fury of a people incensed by a deep sense of wrong.” –Gandhi (Young India, May 5, 1920) At the beginning of the Indian Freedom Struggle, when people wrote and spoke against participating in non-cooperation, Gandhi told them to “get out of their chairs” and actually… read more
“Nonviolent Non-cooperation”–Daily Metta
April 29 “Non-co-operation is an attempt to awaken the masses to a sense of their dignity and power.” –Gandhi (Young India, 2-1-1920, p. 3) When we hear calls to be “peaceful and non-violent” from government officials during moments of riots and tension, we owe it to ourselves to question their understanding of what nonviolence means.… read more
“Nonviolence as an Evolutionary Force”–Daily Metta
January 12 “Non-cooperation is a process of evolution: it has most aptly been described as Evolutionary Revolution.” –Gandhi (Young India, February 23, 1921) Gandhi understood that nonviolent non-cooperation against a State, aka civil resistance, meant a closer form of cooperation among people. Assured that such actions would not lead to disorder or chaos, he put… read more
The limits of non-cooperation as a strategy for social change
Civil disobedience is vital, but it is insufficient to transform society. A new science of cooperation illuminates the path ahead. Vukovar, October 1991. Credit: www.croatia.org. All rights reserved. When the Croatian town of Vukovar was taken over by the Serbian Army in 1991 after 90 days of bombing, Alexander Jevtić, a Serb who had made the town his… read more
