Customer Reviews

Gandhi's Way: A Handbook of Conflict Resolution

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It's unfortunate that the people who have read this book do not really understand what nonviolent conflict resolution is about. Most of the readers, I suspect, think like most Americans that if something doesn't work in 5 easy steps, then it doesn't work at all. Many people argue that nonviolence practice doesn't work. Who says so? And, when does violence work? It may appear to work, but it is a temporary solution that always leads to more complicated (and more violent) conflicts. Nonviolence often takes more time and effort to work, but its results are long-lasting.

The Hitler argument doesn't hold up either. How do we know it wouldn't work? There are a few cases of nonviolent opposition to the Nazis that were successful. But, not many people know about them, because any evidence that points to the achievements of nonviolence are often hidden away. Why? Because it threatens the system of violence that society has worked very hard to brain-wash us into believing.

To those who want to argue at the futile quality of Nonviolence, one should ask: Do you submit to every idea or notion just because the majority has accepted it as true? If there weren't those who were brave enough to challenge convention we'd still believe the world was flat or that the sun revolved around the earth. There must be those pioneers who are willing to live by a new belief to change the world.

This book is one of those to support a new way of perceiving and living a better life.

This book may be easy to read, but the underlying philosophy is anything but. As you read this book, it is very important to keep in mind that Gandhi's means were his goals, his determination was the process, and his Truth openly subject to change. So unlike what we do in our conflict resolutions today, he never applied a tactic or a strategy to achieve a predetermined goal. Gandhi typically started a process to find the Truth and he was adamant in his process, but never stubborn on the goal itself.

I found his imaginary conversations fascinating, especially the one with Sigmund Freud about "Reality" vs. "reality." I also believe that familiarity with the Bhagavad Gita, the spiritual scripture that Gandhi recited on a daily basis will help better grasp his way and the author's point.

Some good ideas, if a trifle idealistic. See also Gandhi's autobiography, "My experiments with truth," and Bondurant's "Conquest of Violence." Note that ISBNs 0520223446, 0062504398, and 006250438X are the identical book, published 2/2002, 10/1989, and 1/1986 under the titles "Gandhi's Way," "Fighting Fair," and "Fighting with Gandhi." The titles are the _only_ differences between the three editions.

I ordered it during Christmas holiday so it took some time to arrive, but when I got it, the book was in perfect condition and I got to read it.

It's unfortunate that the people who have read this book do not really understand what nonviolent conflict resolution is about. Most of the readers, I suspect, think like most Americans that if something doesn't work in 5 easy steps, then it doesn't work at all. Many people argue that nonviolence practice doesn't work. Who says so? And, when does violence work? It may appear to work, but it is a temporary solution that always leads to more complicated (and more violent) conflicts. Nonviolence often takes more time and effort to work, but its results are long-lasting.

The Hitler argument doesn't hold up either. How do we know it wouldn't work? There are a few cases of nonviolent opposition to the Nazis that were successful. But, not many people know about them, because any evidence that points to the achievements of nonviolence are often hidden away. Why? Because it threatens the system of violence that society has worked very hard to brain-wash us into believing.

To those who want to argue at the futile quality of Nonviolence, one should ask: Do you submit to every idea or notion just because the majority has accepted it as true? If there weren't those who were brave enough to challenge convention we'd still believe the world was flat or that the sun revolved around the earth. There must be those pioneers who are willing to live by a new belief to change the world.

This book is one of those to support a new way of perceiving and living a better life.

I second every criticism that the first reviewer from Davis, California, made concerning "Gandhi's Way". The "solutions" that the author, Mark Juergensmeyer, dreams up may be fine for very localized quarrels where the stakes are not high but they don't work when faced with enemies such as Heinrich Himmler or Osama bin Laden -- or, for that matter, rapacious "neighbors" such as the administration of the University of California here Davis.

As for conflicts between nations, Gandhi failed to respond when challenged (in 1932 by theologian Reinhold Niebuhr)to address this issue, particularly as it applied to Hitler's German. Juergensmeyer tries to get over this failure by inventing a dialogue between Gandhi and Niebuhr but he can't pull it off.

All in all this is a thin book -- in more ways than one.

I was not impressed in the least by Gandhi's Way. Mark Juergensmeyer does a good job summing up Gandhi's thoughts, but they are not anything special. The solutions to the problems created by the author are not solutions that would work in real-life conflicts and many of his ideas conflict with each other. The conflict resolutions that are good ideas (along with those that aren't) are nothing special or spiritual at all. It's absurd to pretend that considering another option is something spiritual. Don't waste your time reading this book; anything it suggests you could have thought of on your own... in a quarter of the time.