Activismo - Pacifismo

Disculpad que sólo esté en inglés por ahora. Si alguien quiere traducir podemos luego subir el pdf. ENGLISH: Sorry it's just in English now. If anyone wishes to volunteer translations, please, get in touch. Thanks so much. UPDATED: DEC 15.

Howard and I met last June [2013] on two occassions to try and record an interview to be published on mujerpalabra.net (Activismo - Pacifismo) which would be useful for

• the general public, particularly teachers and students of English (a good vehicle to spread ideas about nonviolent struggle and debunk misperceptions about pacifism), and for
• the social movement, particularly for antimilitarists in the WRI network.

In the first two videos, Howard speaks about his beginnings as an activist and nonviolent struggle from his very rich international experience and his brilliant and committed heart-mind (rational empathy). He also acknowledges his strengths as a researcher precisely because he has been an activist (the world or research is still suffocated by the notion of fame / authority). In the third video, Howard explores a question connected to the terrifyingly cruel issue of rape while listening to my questions about why antimilitarists haven't included rape in their agendas considering this kind of torture happens in all wars and armed struggles on the planet; and why they are reluctant to even explore how they can help. (There will be an added video where michelle will pose some feminist questions for antimilitarists and pacifists.) In the fourth video the issue Religion and Pacifism is tackled, to clarify some common misconceptions.

Interviewing Howard Clark (1 of 4) - mp4 (67MB) /webm (145MB) vídeo, 14 mins. Vídeo 1: Why did you become a pacifist? What do pacifists do? (1)

"Where my heart goes has influenced my life by the lot" - Howard Clark Interview, Mujer Palabra, June 2013

• Key words: Love, University 1968, Peace News, Biafra War, Struggle against apartheid, Vietnam War, Howard's first WRI Conference, Civil Rights Movement, Safe-energy campaigning, Antisexist Group, Michael Randle, 1985 Working for WRI, The End Conscription campaign in South Africa, Antimilitarism, Nonviolent actions, Solidarnosc in Poland - examples: roofing vs flashmobs. "Some of our forms of action get co-opted like that." "Every good movement invents new forms of action" (continues in next video)

 

Interviewing Howard Clark (2 of 4) - mp4 (431MB) /webm (364,7MB) vídeo, 35 mins. Vídeo 2: What do pacifists do? (2) Nonviolent struggle/activism in the world (2)

"Every significant nonviolent movement has taken people by surprise" - Howard Clark Interview, Mujer Palabra, June 2013

• Key words: Direct nonviolent actions. Ways of struggling through nonviolence. Critical ideas for researchers. Researchers and nonviolent struggle. The lives of activists -- during and after. Mutual support and solidarity.
  Chile 1980s: nonviolent struggle against the dictatorship; Overcoming fear. Afirmación y resistencia. Creative committees. Creating the Police Event. Evaluation: "Every action is an experiment". [Mary Wollstonecraft] "And I think because I'm an activist and not just a researcher when it comes to be researching on nonviolent action I can bring out more dynamics like that". "Every significant nonviolent movement has taken people by surprise" examples - Britain: Women for Life on Earth (proto Greenham women movement). Arab Spring. Czechoslovakia: 1989 Civic Forum, Prague. "experimenting, inventing, not aware of the limits, sometimes very aware of the risks, unaware of what they can achieve" Researchers need to recapture the historical imagination on this. You can be depressed not finding a way to act, and a year later... :) example - South Africa: Hunger strikes against apartheid. 1989. "The priviledge of working at the WRI office: meeting incredibly determined people who were going to put their life into something". More examples: Turkey, 1995: Ossi. Repression, "civil death", still being liable for call-up. Solidarity and mutual support - an example iniciated in Germany. Trust and who to trust. How some people change completely, others don't, example - 1995 Greece CO called up again in 2013 for opposing Cuts. International solidarity in court cases. 28 years at WRI. How nonviolent actions can be more than Direct NV action: being the ideal you pursue, being there to listen and analyse. The importance of listening for WRI as an international. What can people do? Flock together! Groups. Workshops. Nonviolence Training: helping you think, tools. WRI Handbook for Nonviolent Campaigns . Eritrea. Groups. The importance of communication (feminism & pacifism). Spain: 15M. Asambleas: communication and analyses. Leadership. [Beg. 15M: Feminists facing trouble at Sol-ution Square, a link] Male leadership and how people managed it to move on in terms of developing participation. Non-hierarchical kinds of organization, playful spirit, well-briefed people who do not want to speak to the media. The difference between groups and a people's movement. Distorted analyses of 15M. 15M fighting evictions: Ada Colau, leadership and being a woman. Experts on evictions in every neighborhood - example: Violeta. Mareas verdes (green waves, in defence of public/state-run education). Yolanda. How they organize taking care of children so their parents can keep the struggle going. The problem of people not wanting to present their points publicly.

 

 

¡En construcción! We can only work on editing this interview over the weekend, but we'll try to do so as fast as we can.

Vídeo 3

• Asking and thinking about why rape, a key war in patriarchy, is not in the antimilitarist agenda. A conversation full of questions and ideas for projects.

Vídeo 4: Misperceptions on Pacifism

• About pacifists being seen as religious believers.

En un blog que tengo para estudiantes de inglés, he creado una webita temporal para Howard, y recojo links a cosas que va sacando la IRG (WRI) y fotos que me envían. Estos contenidos, traducidos, serán publicados en mujerpalabra.net, en Conoce a.... Estáis invitadxs a participar enviando lo que queráis. Escribid a mp arroba mujerpalabra.net con el título: Howard.

In a blog I have for my students, I've created a little temporary web for Howard, where I link to WRI's things on him (Book of Condolences, Book of Photos) and include pics people send. Its contents, plus their translation into Spanish, will be published on mujerpalabra.net, in Conoce a... (Meet...). Everybody's welcome to take part by sending whatever you want to mp at mujerpalabra.net with this title: Howard.

http://plansnwhatwedid.wordpress.com/howard-clark/