Research Paper Assignment: The Issue of Nonviolence versus Violence in Strategies for Social and Political Change

Research Paper Assignment:  The Issue of Nonviolence versus Violence in Strategies for Social and Political Change 
Prepared by Gary Marvin Davison, Ph. D.
Director, New Salem Educational Initiative




Please write a research paper of approximately five pages (typed, double-spaced) using the photocopied chapters and selected groups of pages that I have provided from the following sources:


Alex Ayres, ed. “Nonviolence,” in The Wisdom of Martin Luther King, Jr. (New York: Meridian/ Penguin, 1993), pp. 164-170.


Joan V. Bondurant, , Chapter II (Two), “Satyagraha: Its Basic Precepts” Conquest of Violence:  The Gandhian Philosophy of Conflict (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1971), pp. 15-35.


Warren J. Halliburton, ed., Malcolm X, “Address to Mississippi Youth,”   Historic Speeches of African Americans (New York: The African American Experience/ Franklin Watts, 1993), pp. 129-133.


Martin Luther King, Jr., Chapter VI (Six), “Pilgrimage to Nonviolence,” Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story (New York: Perennial/ Harper & Row, 1958), pp. 72-88.


TOPIC


Please read each of these selections.


After reading these four selections, compare Mohandas K. Gandhi’s ideas on satyagraha (using Bondurant’s Conquest of Violence) and Martin Luther King’s ideas on nonviolence (using the material from both the Ayres [The Wisdom of Martin Luther King, Jr.] and King [Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story] books). You should find these ideas highly compatible, since Martin Luther King based his ideas pertinent to nonviolence on Gandhi’s ideas concerning satyagraha; you should, however, also notice differences in terminology and emphases in the work of these two thinkers and activists. Point out both the many similarities in thought and the significant differences in terminology and emphasis that you observe in the work of Gandhi and Dr. King.


Then contrast what you observe in the work of Gandhi and King with the ideas expressed by Malcolm X in his “Address to Mississippi Youth.” Are there any similarities that you note in the Malcolm X speech by comparison with the Gandhi and Dr. King readings? What are the most notable differences?


Finally, if you were going to plan and lead a social movement, what combination of ideas would you be most likely to use? Answering this question will necessitate your deciding what you think about violent versus nonviolent approaches to social movements--- and which of the ideas about which you’ve read most appeal to you.


Your research paper should include an introductory paragraph with clearly stated thesis; and a concluding paragraph summarizing your most important points and making a final statement that will leave your readers thinking carefully about what you have written. There is no certain number of paragraphs required for this essay; just provide your analysis in the five or so pages, organizing and presenting your paragraphs so as to cover your answers and ideas in the most compelling way.


Use proper format for footnotes or endnotes to document your use of the source materials.