[imc-scotland-discussion] This sunday Forum discussion Does non-violence protect the State?

[Mike]

apologies cross-posting....

but as usual indy scotland is invited to have a stall/ distribute info
at the Forum, if we can sort something out tonight at our meeting mibbe
we could put out some flyers on sunday....

mike, edinburgh

ps re tonight, i forgot when booking that ace is open till 8pm tonight,
so we will be meeting in the back room (which is where computers are
anyway...)


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The Forum open discusssion

Does Non-Violence Protect the State?

7pm this sunday 27 january
Quaker Meeting House, Victoria Terrace, Edinburgh

Venue fully accessible (ramp and lift)

This month we host US author Peter Gelderloos (How Non -Violence
Protects the State) who will talk about his book and his position:
information below. Local anti-war protestors will also be there to
participate.

We'll be in the Quaker Meeting House,  Victoria Terrace, 7pm - 9.30 pm,
Sunday 27th January with the usual stalls, free info table. Hope to see
you there for what should be a really interesting discussion.

http://forumcollective.wordpress.com


Tour Info
*Gandhi said it's better to resist violently than to use nonviolence to
hide your passivity. Meanwhile, Bono, the Burmese military, and 9 out of
10 humanitarian NGOs agree, peaceful resistance is the best!


Violence never solves anything. Violence begets violence. The government
is
strong when it comes to violence, we need to attack them where they are
weak!
Everyone working for social change is familiar with the cliches of
pacifism.
And to many people it seems that using more radical, illegal, or violent
tactics is naturally isolating. But what if it's actually our supposed
allies,
or our own revolutionary practices, that are isolating us? What if
violence is
something diverse, undefinable, a hopelessly broad category that
encompasses
institutions that perpetuate oppression and actions that can empower and
liberate us? What if we are all cogs in a violent system, and what if
pacifists
are tools of a violent system?

People working for social change face plenty of difficult questions, but
sometimes matters of strategy and tactics receive low priority. Among
many
activists, the role of nonviolence as the default mode of struggle bears
little
scrutiny. Even as it pretends to contain moral strength, nonviolence is
a major
obstacle in global movements for social change. Nonviolence is based on
a
number of historical falsifications that enforce
an inaccurate understanding of revolution, it protects white privilege
and the
privilege of the Global North, it can reinforce patriarchal dynamics,
and it
makes anti-authoritarians complicit with the authorities,
preserving the State monopoly of force. Ultimately, nonviolence is
created and
encouraged by the State, and antithetical to anarchist revolution.
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