Constructive Program

Last updated

Constructive Program is a term coined by Mahatma Gandhi to describe one of the two branches of his satyagraha, the other being some form of nonviolent resistance, e.g. civil disobedience. The value of a Constructive Program in the struggle for the independence of India cannot be overemphasized, as Gandhi described civil disobedience as "an aid to constructive effort." [1] Gandhi wrote to his friend and supporter, Jamnalal Bajaj, saying, "My real politics is constructive work." [2] Gandhi's constructive work included a campaign for people to spin their own cloth at home and mine their own salt to avoid having to buy from the British in their anti-colonial struggle. [3]

As opposed to other forms of nonviolence that focus on tearing down systems of oppression, a constructive program's focus is about creating more imaginative, just, and equal communities [4] through focusing on equality, economic self-reliance, education, and environmental efforts. [5] In this way, they complement civil disobedience and other forms of direct action and protest by lessening reliance on the oppressor.

Constructive programs can build alternative institutions so that a successful insurrection does not lead merely to a power vacuum that lets oppression return, such as in Egypt after the otherwise-successful overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak in 2011. [6]

Constructive programs can also act as models of the world that movements are working to build. For example, prison industrial complex abolitionists in the United States work to end mass incarceration, but while doing that broad system-change work, some groups also focus on working on paying bail of those jailed pre-trial who are held only because they cannot afford bail. One such program is National Bail Out, who focus on bailing out as many Black mothers and caregivers as they can and providing employment opportunities to those bailed out. [7]

Other examples include:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vinoba Bhave</span> Advocate of non-violence and human rights

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Satyagraha</span> Form of nonviolent resistance practised during British colonial rule in India

Satyāgraha, or "holding firmly to truth", or "truth force", is a particular form of nonviolent resistance or civil resistance. Someone who practises satyagraha is a satyagrahi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nonviolence</span> Principle or practice of not causing harm to others

Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosophy of abstention from violence. It may be based on moral, religious or spiritual principles, or the reasons for it may be strategic or pragmatic. Failure to distinguish between the two types of nonviolent approaches can lead to distortion in the concept's meaning and effectiveness, which can subsequently result in confusion among the audience. Although both principled and pragmatic nonviolent approaches preach for nonviolence, they may have distinct motives, goals, philosophies, and techniques. However, rather than debating the best practice between the two approaches, both can indicate alternative paths for those who do not want to use violence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mercy Corps</span> American humanitarian aid NGO founded 1979

Mercy Corps is a global non-governmental, humanitarian aid organization operating in transitional contexts that have undergone, or have been undergoing, various forms of economic, environmental, social and political instabilities. The organization claims to have assisted more than 220 million people survive humanitarian conflicts, seek improvements in livelihoods, and deliver durable development to their communities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salt March</span> 1930 Indian protest led by Mahatma Gandhi

The Salt march, also known as the Salt Satyagraha, Dandi March, and the Dandi Satyagraha, was an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in colonial India, led by Mahatma Gandhi. The 24-day march lasted from 12 March 1930 to 6 April 1930 as a direct action campaign of tax resistance and nonviolent protest against the British salt monopoly. Another reason for this march was that the Civil Disobedience Movement needed a strong inauguration that would inspire more people to follow Gandhi's example. Gandhi started this march with 78 of his trusted volunteers. The march spanned 387 kilometres (240 mi), from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi, which was called Navsari at that time. Growing numbers of Indians joined them along the way. When Gandhi broke the British Raj salt laws at 8:30 am on 6 April 1930, it sparked large-scale acts of civil disobedience against the salt laws by millions of Indians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Youth empowerment</span> Process where young people are encouraged to take charge of their lives

Youth empowerment is a process where children and young people are encouraged to take charge of their lives. They do this by addressing their situation and then take action in order to improve their access to resources and transform their consciousness through their beliefs, values, and attitudes. Youth empowerment aims to improve quality of life. Youth empowerment is achieved through participation in youth empowerment programs. However scholars argue that children's rights implementation should go beyond learning about formal rights and procedures to give birth to a concrete experience of rights. There are numerous models that youth empowerment programs use that help youth achieve empowerment. A variety of youth empowerment initiatives are underway around the world. These programs can be through non-profit organizations, government organizations, schools or private organizations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A. T. Ariyaratne</span> Sri Lankan activist (1931–2024)

Sri Lankabhimanya Ahangamage Tudor Ariyaratne was a Sri Lankan activist, founder and president of the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement. He was nominated to the Constitutional Council as a civil representative on 10 September 2015. He received the Jamnalal Bajaj Award in 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Dear</span> American Catholic peace activist

John Dear is an American Catholic priest, peace activist, lecturer, and author of 40 books on peace and nonviolence. He has spoken on peace around the world, organized hundreds of demonstrations against war, injustice and nuclear weapons and been arrested 85 times in acts of nonviolent civil disobedience against war, injustice, poverty, nuclear weapons and environmental destruction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Audre Lorde Project</span> LGBT community and activism organization

The Audre Lorde Project is a Brooklyn, New York–based organization for LGBT people of color. The organization concentrates on community organizing and radical nonviolent activism around progressive issues within New York City, especially relating to LGBT communities, AIDS and HIV activism, pro-immigrant activism, prison reform and organizing among youth of color. It is named for the lesbian-feminist poet and activist Audre Lorde and was founded in 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sex Workers Outreach Project USA</span>

Sex Workers Outreach Project-USA (SWOP-USA) is a national social justice network dedicated to the fundamental human rights of sex workers and their communities, focusing on ending violence and stigma through education and advocacy. SWOP might be considered a constructive program by nonviolent scholars and activists, as it attempts to create more imaginative and just communities, especially considering its focus on equality and education through advocacy. The organization was founded by Robyn Few on August 13, 2003, and their first major action was to organize the first annual International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers with the Green River Memorial for the victims of Gary Ridgway, the "Green River Killer".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nonviolent resistance</span> Act of protest through nonviolent means

Nonviolent resistance, or nonviolent action, sometimes called civil resistance, is the practice of achieving goals such as social change through symbolic protests, civil disobedience, economic or political noncooperation, satyagraha, constructive program, or other methods, while refraining from violence and the threat of violence. This type of action highlights the desires of an individual or group that feels that something needs to change to improve the current condition of the resisting person or group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Community Action Services and Food Bank</span> Non-profit organization in the USA

Community Action Services and Food Bank (CASFB), located in Provo, Utah, is a non-profit organization that serves the low-income population of Utah, Summit, and Wasatch counties and focuses on the operation of programs that help alleviate poverty. It was founded in 1967 following the signing of the Economic Opportunity Act in 1964 by President Lyndon B. Johnson and is one of more than 1,000 independent Community Action Agencies across the country. It is sponsored by United Way of Utah County.

Michael N. Nagler is an American academic, nonviolence educator, mentor, meditator, and peace activist.

The Nalpathimala Grama Vikas Kendra (GVK) is the extension centre of the Mahatma Gandhi University, in India, at its main campus in Kottayam, Kerala. The major activities of the Grama Vikas Kendra are centered on the village of Nalpathimala. The Kendra was commissioned (on 31 March 1991) by the then Vice Chancellor, Dr. U. R. Ananthamurthy, with a vision ‘to add a chethana dimension to the chinthana preoccupations of the University’.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul K. Chappell</span> American activist

Paul K. Chappell is an American activist. He is the Director of the Peace Literacy Institute. A graduate of West Point and a veteran of the war in Iraq, he created the idea of Peace Literacy after his time in the military. He develops the idea further in his seven-book series The Road to Peace where he writes about waging peace, ending war, the art of living, and what it means to be human.

<i>Gandhi as a Political Strategist</i> 1979 book by Gene Sharp

Gandhi as a Political Strategist is a book about the political strategies used by Mahatma Gandhi, and their ongoing implications and applicability outside of their original Indian context. Written by Gene Sharp, the book was originally published in the United States in 1979. An Indian edition was published in 1999. The book has been reviewed in several professional journals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ali Abu Awwad</span> Palestinian peace activist

Ali Abu Awwad is a prominent Palestinian peace activist and proponent of nonviolence. He is the founder of Taghyeer (Change), a Palestinian national movement promoting nonviolence to achieve and guarantee a nonviolent solution to the conflict. Awwad's story and efforts have been featured in over twelve documentaries including two award-winning films, Encounter Point and Forbidden Childhood. Furthermore, he was honored by the global nonprofit thinktank Synergos as the Arab World Social Innovator in Palestine for "introducing non-violence, reconciliation, and civic participation to Palestinians as a means of empowering citizens to seek social change and find a more equitable solution to conflict." Awwad is currently finishing his memoir called Painful Hope, an account of his experiences as well as his strategy and vision for the Palestinian future. He lives in Beit Ummar, near Hebron.

Meta Peace Team (MPT), formerly Michigan Peace Team, is a nonprofit, grassroots organization founded in 1993 that seeks to pursue peace through active nonviolence and create an alternative to militarism through empowered peacemaking. MPT provides creative nonviolence training workshops to ordinary citizens with a framework of third party nonviolent intervention (TPNI), and it deploys peace teams to conflict areas both domestically and internationally. Its peace teams have worked in places such as Iraq, Haiti, Bosnia, Egypt, Panama, Mexico, Gaza Strip, and the West Bank; they have also been placed within the United States to create peaceful presences at national and state political conventions, Ku Klux Klan rallies, and gay pride parades, among many other events. MPT also works in collaboration with other peace and justice groups around the globe, including Nonviolent Peaceforce, Christian Peacemaker Teams, Veterans for Peace, the International Solidarity Movement, Peace Brigades International, the Shanti Sena Network, and the Metta Center for Nonviolence. Its current offices are located in Lansing and Detroit, Michigan. MPT is a founding member of the Shanti Sena Network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southerners On New Ground</span>

Southerners on New Ground is a social justice, advocacy and capacity building organization serving and supporting queer and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, uniquely focusing its work in the southern United States through community organizing for economic and racial justice. The organization is unique, as most of the places it does work in do not have an LGBTQ organization like it.

Centre for Nonviolent Action is a peace organization focused on building sustainable peace in the region of former Yugoslavia. It was founded in 1997 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and expanded to Belgrade, Serbia in 2001. The organisation's main objective is to promote nonviolence and dialogue through trust-building among people from the region as well as a constructive approach to dealing with the past.

References

  1. ↑ Gandhi, M. K. (1948). Constructive Programme: Its Meaning and Place (2nd ed.). Ahmedabad: Navajivan Publishing House, page 1. Retrieved 7 December 2013.
  2. ↑ Nayar, Pyarelal and Sushila, (1991). In Gandhi's Mirror. Delhi: Oxford University Press, page 268.
  3. ↑ "Constructive programme". Empowering Nonviolence. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  4. ↑ Center, Metta (2006-01-01). "Constructive Program". Metta Center. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  5. ↑ "Constructive programme". Empowering Nonviolence. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  6. ↑ Nagler, Michael, (2014). The Nonviolence Handbook. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, Pages 33-38.
  7. ↑ "National Bail Out". National Bail Out. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  8. ↑ "Mosaic Christian Community". Settled. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  9. ↑ W3bStudio (2022-09-05). "New autonomous zone established in Ljubljana". Slovenia Times. Retrieved 2022-11-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.