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nonviolence

nonviolence

18 4.1
Using peaceful actions to bring about social or political change
  • noun
  • /nɒnˈvaɪələns/
translation icon : no violencia
  • Advocates of nonviolence frequently say that nonviolence works, and the principal examples that they use of that are Gandhi in India and Martin Luther King in the U.S.
  • commitment to nonviolence
  • philosophy of nonviolence
  • nonviolence to achieve peace

I just, I think we need to be panicking about this erosion in the norm of nonviolence in Western liberal democracy.

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Examples

  • Therefore, one must adhere to the philosophy of nonviolence and choose to return kindness for violence.

    Academic text (2007)
  • Nonviolence means cooperation when it is possible... and resistance when it is not.

  • For 50 years, we have been talking peace and nonviolence.

  • In this world, nonviolence is no longer an option for intellectual analysis.

  • Nonviolence takes a long time.

  • And so, once more, the man of nonviolence... has challenged the might of the British Empire.

  • The sea of humanity was ordered, directed by the common cause of nonviolence in the struggle for freedom and justice.

    Academic text (2006)
  • All of us delegates have one thing in common: a compelling belief in nonviolence and social justice.

    Academic text (2001)
  • And so, peaceful nonviolence comes first in India under Gandhi, and then later, here in the United States under Dr. King and others as a means of achieving civil rights.

  • Nonviolence is a powerful approach for bringing about social change without resorting to violence.

Synonyms

pacifism
vsnonviolence
6 6.2

The belief that using violence, like fighting or war, is wrong and people should solve problems peacefully

is focused on using peaceful protest and actions to change society
passive resistance
vsnonviolence
3 5.6

A way to act against authority without violence, for example by refusing to cooperate

is broader, a general policy choosing peaceful methods to create social change
nonviolent resistance
vsnonviolence
2 3.9

A way of opposing a government without using violence, for example by refusing to obey laws

is a general policy to reject violence for social or political change
nonresistance
vsnonviolence
7.9

Not using violence, even to protect yourself

allows active peaceful methods aimed at social or political change

Antonyms

violence
  • Offensive
2.8

The use of physical force that hurts people or damages things

How Violent

terrorism
  • NSFW
795 5.6
violence
  • Offensive
2.8
pacifism
6 6.2
nonviolence
18 4.1

Surface Forms

nonviolence singular
nonviolences plural

Morphology

nonviolence = violence (transparent) = non + violence + non

The negation prefix 'non-' applied to 'violence' yields the expected meaning 'absence or rejection of violence', which is directly inferable.

Etymology

Nonviolence starts with non- meaning 'not' and the rest, violence, means 'force' or 'harm', like being 'violent'. So nonviolence is the idea of 'not using force' and choosing peaceful ways to make change.