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*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1920's 1920)
==Definitions==
*1: abstention from [[violence]] as a matter of principle; also : the principle of such abstention
*2a : the [[quality]] or [[state]] of being nonviolent : avoidance of [[violence]]
:b : nonviolent [[demonstration]]s for the [[purpose]] of securing [[political]] ends
==Description==
'''Nonviolence''' is a [[philosophy]] and [[strategy]] for [[social]] [[change]] that rejects the use of [[violence]]. Thus, nonviolence is an [[alternative]] to passive [[acceptance]] of [[oppression]] or of armed [[struggle]] against it. Nonviolence [[practitioners]] use diverse [[methods]] in their [[campaigns]] for [[social]] [[change]], including [[critical]] forms of [[education]] and [[persuasion]], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_disobedience civil disobedience] and nonviolent [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_action direct action], and targeted [[communication]] via mass [[media]].

In [[modern]] times, nonviolence is a powerful [[tool]] for social protest. There are many examples of its use in nonviolent [[resistance]] and nonviolent [[revolution]], including [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohandas_Karamchand_Gandhi Mahatma Gandhi] leading a decades-long nonviolent [[struggle]] against [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Raj British rule in India], which [[eventually]] helped India win its independence in 1947, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King Martin Luther King]'s adoption of Gandhi's nonviolent [[methods]] in the struggle to win [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_rights civil rights] for African Americans, and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A9sar_Ch%C3%A1vez César Chávez]'s [[campaigns]] of nonviolence in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960's 1960]s to protest the treatment of farm workers in California. The 1989 "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velvet_Revolution Velvet Revolution]" in Czechoslovakia that saw the overthrow of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist Communist government] is considered one of the most important of the largely nonviolent [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutions_of_1989 Revolutions of 1989]. Most recently the nonviolent campaigns of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leymah_Gbowee Leymah Gbowee] and the [[women]] of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberia Liberia] were able to achieve [[peace]] after a 14-year civil war. This story is captured in a 2008 documentary [[film]] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pray_the_Devil_Back_to_Hell Pray the Devil Back to Hell].

The term "nonviolence" is often linked with or even used as a synonym for [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacifism pacifism]; however, the two [[concepts]] are [[fundamentally]] [[different]]. Pacifism denotes the rejection of the use of [[violence]] as a [[personal]] [[decision]] on [[moral]] or [[spiritual]] grounds, but does not [[inherently]] imply any inclination toward [[change]] on a sociopolitical level. Nonviolence on the other hand, presupposes the [[intent]] of (but does not [[limit]] it to) [[social]] or [[political]] [[change]] as a reason for the rejection of [[violence]].

Advocates of nonviolence believe [[cooperation]] and consent are the [[roots]] of [[political]] [[power]]: all [[regimes]], including bureaucratic [[institutions]], [[financial]] institutions, and the armed segments of [[society]] (such as the military and [[police]]); depend on compliance from [[citizens]]. On a national level, the [[strategy]] of nonviolence seeks to undermine the [[power]] of rulers by encouraging people to withdraw their consent and [[cooperation]]. The forms of nonviolence draw [[inspiration]] from both [[religious]] or [[ethical]] [[beliefs]] and [[political]] [[analysis]]. Religious or ethically based nonviolence is sometimes referred to as principled, philosophical, or [[ethical]] nonviolence, while nonviolence based on [[political]] [[analysis]] is often referred to as tactical, [[strategic]], or pragmatic nonviolence. Commonly, both of these [[dimensions]] may be present within the [[thinking]] of particular [[movements]] or [[individuals]].[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonviolence]

[[Category: Political Science]]