Gene Sharp: a quiet revolutionary
Jonathan Doering considers what Friends might learn from the ‘Machiavelli of nonviolence’
‘Nonviolent weapons are very important because… if [people] can’t see that they are very powerful, they will go back to violence and war every time.’ So commented the American academic Gene Sharp recently. Following the events in Egypt that swept Hosni Mubarak’s oppressive regime away and prompted currents of change, his name has been much mentioned in the media. His pamphlet, From Dictatorship to Democracy, has been a ‘nonviolence bible’ for two decades now. Gene Sharp himself is a combination of the home-grown and international, study and action, inspiration and humility, who might offer something valuable to Friends in our own actions and support of others.
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