To defeat terrorism, Mark Juergensmeyer says, we must understand why it happens.
“First of all, figure out why they hate us,” says the professor of sociology and religious studies at UC Santa Barbara and the author of UC Davis’ 2003-04 Campus Community Book Project selection, Gandhi’s Way.
Although Juergensmeyer is not sympathetic to people who have done terrible things, he says he does want to understand them and their world views well enough to know how they and their supporters can morally justify what they have done.
Juergensmeyer is likely to discuss such life-and-death topics when he comes to Davis on Oct. 16-17 for two workshops and an evening lecture on Gandhi’s Way: A Handbook of Conflict Resolution.
With the reality setting in of just how long the war on terrorism and the occupation in Iraq may last, Americans are looking for answers on how to cope with a more dangerous and unstable world. For example, how do you negotiate with terrorists who may not want to negotiate?
“The Gandhian way is not only about negotiation,” Juergensmeyer says. “First and foremost, it is a way of trying to find a truthful resolution. This means that we have to interrogate ourselves and try to see ourselves as our enemies see us. In some cases we will have to change. We need to respond to those who hate us in ways that are consistent with the truthful resolution that will allow space for both us and our enemies.”
Gandhi’s Way, Juergensmeyer says, provides a primer of Mahatma Gandhi’s principles of moral action and conflict resolution, and offers a step-by-step approach that can be used in any conflict, whether at the office, home or on the world’s stage.
“The greatest strength of Gandhi’s theory,” says Juergensmeyer, “is that it is simple. It can be applied by anyone at any time, anywhere. The idea is this — everyone has some part of the truth — conflict resolution is simply a matter of putting those truths together and fighting for all sides to accept them.”
Juergensmeyer acknowledges that Gandhi’s approach has its own set of challenges — or perceptions, that is. “The greatest weakness of Gandhi’s theory is the perception that it is an act of weakness,” he says. “Gandhi’s way is not just about nonviolence — all cowards can passively let powerful opponents run over them and claim they are nonviolent.”
Noted Juergensmeyer, “Gandhi despised such attitudes.” In this sense, he says, Gandhi was “a fighter,” and wanted to be effective in his fighting.
“This meant fighting on a deeper level than simply applying brute force — which never resolves anything — and consequently his way is inevitably nonviolent,” he says.
Juergensmeyer is also the Director of the Global and International Studies Program at UC Santa Barbara and has served as the chair of the UC system’s Pacific Rim Research Program. When informed that his book had been chosen for the UC Davis book project, Juergensmeyer said he was deeply pleased.
“In a time of increasingly global conflict, people are grasping for new ways of thinking about problems and solutions. There is a hunger to find ways of conflict resolution that are more creative and effective than simply applying brute force.”
Juergensmeyer is an expert on religious violence, conflict resolution and South Asian religion and politics. He has published more then 200 articles and is the author and editor of a dozen books. He grew up in central Illinois and worked as a war correspondent in Vietnam. He later earned a doctorate in political science with the emphasis on South Asian and comparative politics from UC Berkeley.
In Gandhi’s Way, he pits Gandhi’s ideas against those of other great social thinkers and provides a Gandhian critique of Gandhi himself, and offers viable solutions to some of the gaps in Gandhian theory.
A great joy in writing a book, he says, is lear-ning from the people who read it. “I’m amazed at how inventive people have been in using Gandhi’s way of conflict resolution — in personal relationships as well as large social struggles. Some have suggested using it as a basis of foreign policy, as a way of dealing with U.S. interests in Iraq, or tensions between Israelis and Palestinians. Nothing would please Gandhi more than to know that his way of thinking about truth and conflict continues to endure.”
Author events....
Mark Juergensmeyer will appear at the following free, public events Oct. 16-17.
• Thursday, Oct. 16, 1-4 p.m.; MU II. In this first of two "Bring Your Own Conflict" workshops and lectures on his book, Juergensmeyer will help participants work out issues using Gandhi’s practices.
• Thursday, Oct. 16, 7 p.m.; Main Theatre. Juergensmeyer will give a full presentation of his book.
• Friday, Oct. 17, 9 a.m. to noon; Memorial Union II. The second of two "Bring Your Own Conflict" workshops.