The Community of the Ark is a small spiritual commune in southern France that was founded in 1948 by Lanza del Vasto. Lanza del Vasto was a non-violence activist and disciple of Mahatma Gandhi. [1] During the 1970s, many of the communards, under the leadership of del Vasto, took a leading role in the civil disobedience campaign resisting the proposed extension of the military base on the Larzac plateau. [2] The campaign was ultimately triumphant.[ citation needed ]
In the 1970s, the community spread to several locations, including Italy, Spain and Quebec. In the 1990s, some communities were closed due to conflicts and lack of new members.[ citation needed ]
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British rule. He inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. The honorific Mahātmā, first applied to him in South Africa in 1914, is now used throughout the world.
Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger, Vicomte de Saint-Exupéry, known simply as Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (,, French:[ɑ̃twandəsɛ̃t‿ɛɡzypeʁi];, was a French writer, poet, journalist and aviator. He received several prestigious literary awards for his novella The Little Prince and for his lyrical aviation writings, including Wind, Sand and Stars and Night Flight. His works have been translated into many languages.
Vinayak Narahari Bhave, also known as Vinoba Bhave, was an Indian advocate of nonviolence and human rights. Often called Acharya, he is best known for the Bhoodan Movement. He is considered as National Teacher of India and the spiritual successor of Mahatma Gandhi. He was an eminent philosopher. The Gita has been translated into the Marathi language by him with the title Geetai.
Sree Narayana Guru was a philosopher, spiritual leader and social reformer in India. He led a reform movement against the injustice in the caste-ridden society of Kerala in order to promote spiritual enlightenment and social equality. A quote of his that defined his movement was "one caste, one religion, and one god for all human beings." He is the author of the Advaita poem Daiva Dasakam, which is one of the most used poem in Kerala for community prayer.
Lanza del Vasto was an Italian philosopher, poet, artist, Catholic and nonviolent activist.
Jayaprakash Narayan Srivastava, also known as JP and Lok Nayak, was an Indian independence activist, theorist, socialist and political leader. He is mainly remembered for leading the mid-1970s opposition against Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and calling for her overthrow in a "total revolution". In 1999, Narayan was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award, in recognition of his social service. His other awards include the Magsaysay award for public service in 1965.
Larzac, also known as the Causse of Larzac, is a limestone karst plateau in the south of the Massif Central, France, situated between Millau and Lodève. It is an agricultural area, where traditionally sheep produce milk for Roquefort cheese. Since the early 2010s, the agricultural production has largely diversified.
Jean Vanier was a Canadian Catholic philosopher and theologian. In 1964, he founded L'Arche, an international federation of communities spread over 37 countries for people with developmental disabilities and those who assist them. In 1971, he co-founded Faith and Light with Marie-Hélène Mathieu, which also works for people with developmental disabilities, their families, and friends in over 80 countries. He continued to live as a member of the original L'Arche community in Trosly-Breuil, France, until his death.
L'Arche is an international federation of non-profit organisations working to create networks of community where people with and without intellectual disabilities live and work together. Founded in 1964 by Jean Vanier, Raphaël Simi, and Philip Seux, L'Arche emerged as a reaction and community-based alternative to the ill-treatment and dismal living conditions in the psychiatric institutions of the 1960s. Initially formed in the French commune of Trosly-Breuil, it subsequently expanded to over 150 communities in 38 countries worldwide.
Gandhism is a body of ideas that describes the inspiration, vision, and the life work of Mohandas K. Gandhi. It is particularly associated with his contributions to the idea of nonviolent resistance, sometimes also called civil resistance.
Madeleine Slade, also known as Mirabehn or Meera Behn, was a British supporter of the Indian Independence Movement who in the 1920s left her home in England to live and work with Mahatma Gandhi. She devoted her life to human development and the advancement of Gandhi's principles.
Antoine Krilone Kombouaré is a French professional football manager and former player who currently works as the head coach of Ligue 1 club Nantes.
Nai Talim, or Basic Education, is a principle which states that knowledge and work are not separate. Mahatma Gandhi promoted an educational curriculum with the same name based on this pedagogical principle.
Arun Manilal Gandhi was a South African-born Indian-American author, socio-political activist and son of Manilal Gandhi, thus a grandson of nationalist leader Mahatma Gandhi. In 2017, he published The Gift of Anger: And Other Lessons From My Grandfather Mahatma Gandhi.
The Fight for the Larzac refers to a non-violent civil disobedience action by farmers resisting the extension of a military base on the Larzac plateau in South Western France. The action lasted from 1971 to 1981 and ended in victory for the resistance movement when the new President François Mitterrand abandoned the project. The base, used for training French soldiers, was originally established in 1902 on 3,000 ha of uncultivated heathland. Michel Debré, Minister of Defence in the Georges Pompidou administration, announced that the base would be extended to 13,700 ha and that the land would be expropriated in the public interest. An initial informal resistance movement was formed by 103 landowners whose land was subject to expropriation. In 1973 their cause was taken up by a much larger group of heterogeneous activists, predominantly left wing, and numbering up to 100,000. This activist group descended on the Larzac in support of the peasant landowners and extended the protest to a more general action against what they saw as the militarism of the Pompidou government. This action, once it had achieved its focal aims on the Larzac, was the core of what then became the Anti-Globalism movement and also served to bring to public attention leaders such as Lanza del Vasto, José Bové, and the late Guy Tarlier.
S. P. Varma is a social worker and peace activist from Jammu and Kashmir. He has been actively involved in peace-building efforts in conflict-ridden areas of the Kashmir valley.
Jean Marie Joseph Philippe, professionally known as Thomas Philippe, was a French Dominican priest. Along with Jean Vanier, he co-founded L'Arche, an organisation which helps support people with mental disabilities. Both he and Vanier were later found to be sexual abusers.
Baron Emmanuel van der Linden d'Hooghvorst (1914–1999) was a Belgian writer, spagyric philosopher and alchemist.
Jean-Baptiste Libouban was a French syndicalist. He was a member of the Community of the Ark, of which he was the highest-ranking member from 1990 to 2005 and started the movement for activism against genetic engineering.
The followers of Mahatma Gandhi, the most prominent figure of the Indian independence movement, are called Gandhians.