Stellan Vinthagen
Gandhi's Three-Pronged Approach: Personal Transformation, Nonviolent Resistance, and Construction
Time: 10:30am to 11:45am
Location: Zoom
Public Lecture by Stellan Vinthagen
Gandhi advocated a three-fold strategy that combines nonviolent resistance with personal transformation, and nonviolent construction (constructive program) of alternatives that can replace systemic violence in society. In this talk professor Vinthagen will explore both its possibilities and challenges in current contexts. He will argue that a problematic weakness accompanying an otherwise amazing surge of contemporary "protest movements" in the world, can be traced to a failure to either recognize or fully apply this strategy for radical social change.
The talk will be followed by Q & A and dialogue with the Speaker.
Stellan Vinthagen
Stellan Vinthagen is Professor of Sociology and Endowed Chair in the Study of Nonviolent Direct Action and Civil Resistance at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He is Co-Leader of the Resistance Studies Group at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden and co-founder of the Resistance Studies Network, and Editor of the Journal of Resistance Studies. Vinthagen is a prolific scholar and has published a dozen books and more than 100 articles on resistance, power, nonviolent action, and social change. His latest book is Conceptualizing 'Every Day Resistance' (2020).
As an activist Vinthagen has participated in more than 30 nonviolent civil disobedience actions, for which he has served in total more than one year in prison. He is one of the initiators of the European Plowshares movement; and, Academic Conference Blockades; and one of the founders of Ship to Gaza Sweden, a coalition member of the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza.
He divides his time between Sweden and the USA.