Do This in Memory of Me

Citizens of the southern Ukrainian village of Enerhodar protested the Russian capture of their deputy mayor. (Telegram/Dmytro Orlov)

This week, Nonviolence Radio broadcasts a talk by peace researcher and award-winning author, Maria Stephan. Maria is chief organizer and co-lead at the Horizons Project and collaborated with Erica Chenoweth on the book, Why Civil Resistance Works. In this episode, she explores how nonviolence might be effectively used in Ukraine – and the ways it already is:

“… right now, inside Ukraine, in towns, villages, cities that have been invaded and occupied by Russian forces, you are seeing actions by ordinary unarmed civilians to stop, thwart, and slow the invasion of Russian troops, tanks, convoys, including these scenes in Kherson and Melitopol, where you've had literally people putting their bodies in front of tanks and convoys. In some cases, forcing them to turn around and leave the cities or towns.”

Given past work on Syria, Maria understands the nuances of nonviolent tactics such as sanctions and is able to explain how they might be used constructively, as a way gradually to dismantle ‘key pillars’ of power within Putin’s regime. Her sense of hope, her conviction that nonviolence truly works, rests on concrete evidence that is too often overlooked by mainstream media. 

Michael’s Nonviolence Report following Maria’s talk is also firmly grounded in evidence, the evidence of hard science. Instead of the usual round-up of nonviolent action taking place across the globe, Michael offers us a cogent and compelling account of how contemporary physics dovetails with the ancient Vedanta tradition, revealing our individual consciousness – here and now – to be a vital force in shaping the world we inhabit.

Transcript archived at Waging Nonviolence