The Force of Nonviolence: An Ethico-Political Bind Paperback – February 9, 2021

Judith Butler provides a keen analysis of the nonviolent counter-culture necessary for humans to survive in our current political climate. Butler, a seasoned philosopher of culture, gender and violence, observes that the nation-state too often gets to decide what is violence and what is not, viewing anything that threatens its own power base as “violent” and its own racist and violent enforcement as “justice.” Butler rejects a premise that we live in a field of violence and therefore can only evaluate violence as a means toward an end. Instead, she suggests, we need to view nonviolence as a social and political commitment to the grievability of all life. That is, we need to consider the reality of the world is that all life is precious and worthy of grief if it is to be lost, and when we inhabit that reality, we will practice and live within a nonviolent world. If we use violent means to attain our ends of justice are peace, we are really contributing to a more violent world.Butler’s strength is that her approach is based on ethical theory and moral reasoning rather than blind faith or an absolute commitment not to harm. She recognizes the necessity of the “force of nonviolence” in conflict resolution, labor disputes, creative resistance to government oppression, and radical democracy. In her words, “The institutional life of violence will not be brought down by a prohibition, but only by a counter-institutional ethos and practice.” (61) We need not focus on our own guilt or the sins of the past, but be motivated by our obvious interconnectedness to look toward a world ruled by the politics of equity.Drawing on Kierkegaard, Freud, Melanie Klein, and Walter Benjamin (among others), Butler provides us a guiding line toward moving beyond the violence of our national id – and even the violence of the superego – toward an interdependent life that causes flourishing for all. As a theologian, I find Butler’s observations to be right in line with the Anabaptist understanding of the gospel. As a philosopher, I find her arguments readable, cogent, and persuasive. And as a human being and a father of an adolescent woman, I find her proposal for how we need to live together utterly necessary in a fragmented and violent time on all sides of the political spectrum.

Should be required reading in 2021. I loved the book. I got a little bogged down in the Freudian analysis, but as a casual reader it was excellent!!

So rich in content

Always challenged and engaged reading Judith Butler

I have no idea what book those who have given this work 5 stars actually read, but the glowing reviews do not jibe with my experience. Butler's argument, such as it is, is buried in reams of run-on sentences and tons of turgid prose. I think her thesis is simple: in order for nonviolence to be effective on a mass scale all people must be equally "grievable," meaning that the current power hierarchy devalues millions of people and thus makes them expendable in war and other forms of violence. I agree. Why she must couch this simple point in her loop de loop style of argumentation is a mystery to me. I wish I had read the useful footnotes first because reading the main body of the text is truly painful. According to Butler one must incur a five Advil headache in order to comprehend the true meaning of nonviolence. There are many other sources that are much more accessible than this pile of gobbledygook. Start with Mark Kurlansky's "Nonviolence: The History of a Dangerous Idea," then check out Swarthmore College's Global Nonviolent Action Database, which provides documentation on the practical applications of nonviolence in real world circumstances. Skip Butler because she writes as if political action equals the antics of amoebas, not the actions of human individuals.

The whole book could be summarized in an article. There is nothing new or inspirational. More of a rant from an author with a name so it sells. But her overuse of the word "that" is extremely distracting. The vocabulary is rich but often gets in the way of the message. Really disappointing text on an important topic. It will sell copies but only so people can put them on tables -- the cover is quite attractive and the title speaks volumes, even if the book doesn't.

received book today, cover was damaged and covered in something sticky

Siempre un gusto leer a JB, este en especial brinda nuevas luces a estos tiempos e invita a repensarse, es una edición muy especial muy bien hecha.

Once again, Judith Butler surprised me with a very insightful and complex seminal work about the forces of nonviolence. This book is more than philosophical reasoning, as it presents theoretical and pragmatic thinking linked to a passionate engagement with pressing political and moral matters of our time, e.g. violence done to vulnerable groups (which should get rid of its paternalist aspects) such as migrants, people with various sexual orientations, groups suppressed by dictators, etc. Butler's main argument is grounded on the fact that ambivalence and aggression is part of human nature. She argues that this relationship is the foundation on which the necessity of a commitment to non-violence can be built. Such a commitment arises when we begin to recognise our social bond which is, on the one hand, rooted in violence and, on the other, in the vulnerability and interdependence of all living beings. This thesis brings Butler to the notion that neither non-violence nor vulnerability equates with passivity; on the contrary, these two moments of a continuum can help foster resistance against systemic violence, destruction, war, and all other "death driving" (Freud) forces. This book is a reminder not only to the ongoing discussions about an open society (Popper) but also to the human condition that is a characterised by ambivalence between both love and hate on an individual level and a wish for a peaceful world on a global level.

I received this book with a BIG KNIFE SCRATCH on the cover which is I don't know why.What I can make sure is that this scratch is definitely NOT a cover art design.