Radical Political Action, Violence and Non-Violence

Tuesdays 19:00 – 21:30

Learning Resource Centre

Facilitator: Nora Ziegler

What kind of action is capable of radically challenging, subverting or transforming the established political and social order? What kind of action can legitimately be used for radical political and social change? These questions are often framed in terms of a dichotomy between “violent” and “non-violent” political action. This course looks at how these questions are dealt with by thinkers within different contexts and movements including Anarchism, Marxism, Anticolonialism, Pacifism and Critical Theory. Our aim is not to defend either violence or non-violence but to question the dichotomy and think critically about what makes action political, what makes it radical and what makes it legitimate.