“Antimilitarism: Political and Gender Dynamics of Peace Movements” review

“Antimilitarism: Political and Gender Dynamics of Peace Movements” review

Antimilitarism

by Cynthia Cockburn
Palgrave Macmillan, 2012

Sue Gilmurray

No matter how passionately we loath war, there is a place for turning our critical faculties on the peace movement and asking questions about what we do and how we might be more effective. Cynthia Cockburn provides a bracing look at a variety of peace and anti-war groups, interviewing 130 people in 12 countries. Her aim: to find out whether, despite their differences, they might really bring about a more peaceful world.

Here are real people struggling with intractable situations: in Okinawa against US military occupation; in Korea against the powers which partition their country; in Uganda against the proliferation of small arms; in Strasbourg to oppose NATO; in Leicester to support the people of Gaza. But their diversity is bewildering: here are Marxists and anarchists; pacifists and those who support violent protest; feminists and those indifferent to feminism; those opposed to all wars and those who care about only one. How can they work together?
Cynthia, a feminist and a socialist, does not pass judgement on the various activist groups, but finds encouragement in the common ground they share, and in the ways they find to work together. She perceives a continuum of violence, from the domestic through to the military, aggravated by the machismo element in our cultures, and encouraged by the military-industrial complex. The peace groups tackle the issue from different angles, but share the aim of violence reduction.

This is the book’s conclusion and its challenge: we need to oppose the pervasive idea that violence is inevitable by pointing out that in most cases it is a deliberately chosen course of action. Our diverse peace groups can unite in claiming that there is almost always a choice, and urging everyone – in the home, in society and in politics – to choose the less violent option.

This is not an easy read, but one which can broaden our understanding, and encourage both thought and action.

The Movement for the Abolition of War
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