Gene Sharp's work on the theory and practice of non-violent action has been seminal and ultimately utilized as a handbook for direct political action by activists in their efforts to overthrow repressive regimes. His impact on our understanding of 'peaceful action' has been pivotal, making him a highly deserving, if somewhat out of the ordinary, 'parent' of the peace and conflict studies field.
Some figures loom so large in the study of one or other aspect of conflict analysis that it is impossible to separate the individual from the ideas. This is undoubtedly the case with Gene Sharp and the study and the practice of non-violent direct action. Dr. Sharp has had a highly varied career but the end result has been that his ideas are now sought after not merely by scholars but by political activists from countries as far apart of Serbia and the Baltic republics to countries involved in the recent 'Arab Spring.'
As Dr. Sharp outlines in his interview, having ideas about non-violent action or civilian based defence accepted has not been easy. Initially starting out interested in pursuing social justice in the U.S., Gene Sharp initially worked on his chosen research themes in Norway at the Institute for Social Research (ISR) where he had been invited by the Norwegian philosopher, Arne Naess. He then moved to Oxford where his thinking about the nature of political power became integrated into his developing theories about the effective use of non-violence to undermine existing power structures. He then returned to the ISR in Norway, but stayed somewhat aloof from the peace research institutions that were developing there in the late 1950s and 1960s.
Returning to the U.S., he experienced -- in an extreme form -- the typical problem of having a then unfashionable study funded by the inherently conservative foundation world. However, he was able to attract support for his work from both Albert Einstein and the Harvard-based political scientist, Tom Schelling. He taught part time at both Harvard and at Southeastern Massachusetts University, and continued to work on his ideas for using non-violence as a practical strategy for undermining tyrannical regimes. Dr. Sharp collected moves and tactics from a wide variety of historical sources, the end result being his massive study of The Politics of Non-Violent Action, which has become a handbook for many non-violent movements and contains a long list of ways in which concerted action to stop obeying leaders can effectively lead to their overthrow.
Other works have followed this comprehensive survey and thoroughly cemented Gene Sharp’s reputation as the leading expert in this field, but also as an essential source for gaining an understanding of the dynamics of power and its possible undermining.
JB/CRM
