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Book Review
Path of Resistance:
The Practice of Civil Disobedience
by Per Herngren
Reviewer:
David Westby published in Social Anarchism
1996 #22 This book is the product of its author's reflections on and research into
his and others' experiences in peace movement activities in Scandinavia,
the U.S. and elsewhere. Herngren is a sociologically-trained Swede, and
above all a lifelong peace movement activist. In the U.S., in consequence
of participating with others in a Plowshares missile-disarming action in
1984, and after being convicted, he served 18 months (mostly) in Danbury
prison. In Sweden he was one of the organizers of Swedish Plowshares,
which has mounted a series of actions against Swedish weapons exports
mainly (by Bofors) and continued development of the JAS 39 Gripen
high-tech fighter plane by Saab-Scania. The most important of these, and
certainly the largest action ever mounted by Plowshares, was a
four-weeklong "peace camp" at the Saab-Scania compound near Linkoping
attempting to shut down further development of JAS, in which hundreds
participated. Along with his own engagement in the peace movement,
Herngren has worked over several years assembling accounts of the
experiences of others, particularly but not exclusively, those engaging in
civil disobedience. He knows whereof he speaks, and is as qualified as
anyone to take on the subject. Path of Resistance is technically a
manual detailing how to do civil resistance, but one that goes well beyond
others in its scope, objectivity and critical perspective. Herngren says
that his purpose was "to get recent experience in nonviolence down on
paper" (p. 3). I think the book will be very useful not only for those
engaged in civil disobedience along with other movement people, but for a
great many others, as well. The bulk of it is a very practical and
detailed account of when and how to do civil disobedience, along with
plenty of real-life accounts, particularly having to do with Plowshares
and the sanctuary movement. There are detailed, critical-minded
discussions of affinity groups, problems of security, the various kinds of
actions (among them camps, destruction of weapons, sabotage, and
monkeywrenching), how to manage the trial and punishment, and more. In all
this there are no sacred cows and no hallowed beliefs or practices. To
mention just one example, Herngren professes astonishment at the
widespread mounting of blockades, and goes on to present a solid critique.
Path of Resistance, however, is a good deal more than just a
how-to-do-it handbook. Civil disobedience is subjected to a theoretical
and practical critique that establishes its possibilities and limits. It
is one method among others, neither inherently better or worse then
others, but one to be employed when appropriate. Herngren's conception
will probably contain some surprises for many readers. Its basic purpose
is to establish dialogue with the opponent, a dialogue which is to be
maintained indefinitely. Resistance to authorities, which may take the
form of civil disobedience--but other forms as well--forces a reaction
from the opponent, which is then drawn into dialogue. This may be a
gradual process in which actions are escalated, and in which the dialogue
will hopefully expand to include other officials, citizens, and indeed,
the entire society.
This escalation necessarily involves the trial and punishment as
elements of the resistance. The point, according to Herngren, is not to
influence public opinion, but to challenge others to enact disobedience.
The trial provides opportunity to institute a dialogue. The willingness to
submit to punishment demonstrates that the resister is prepared to accept
the consequences of his or her actions; it counters the fear that all must
overcome to engage in civil disobedience.
Because establishment of dialogue presupposes a moral grounding,
resistance aimed at establishing it must proceed nonviolently. Any forms
of resistance that encourage violence on anyone's part are rejected out of
hand: certain types of direct action, in Herngren's view, fall into this
category. Nonviolence is not, on this view, grounded in religious or other
absolutist ideological foundations. Indeed, Herngren claims that civil
disobedience has grown out of humanist and liberal traditions (p. 6), but
makes no mention of its well-known religious sources. He finds the fulcrum
of resistance not so much in the individual conscience as in the community
of resisters, and rejects the idea, fostered by Martin Luther King, Jr.,
of civil disobedience as self-purification, maintaining that this sets up
an elitist distinction between a self-styled movement elect and others
unable or unwilling to purify themselves.
Most fundamental, if resistance is to be mounted effectively and in
accord with these stipulations, it must be grounded democratically. For
Herngren, democracy "is based on the assumption that all parties involved
come to an agreement, and "resistance should be based on the conditions
for democracy" (p.12), as much a Swedish doctrine as one of recent
participatory democracy. I will not here attempt to relate the ways in
which this conception informs the details of Herngren's discussion, but
only say that, to my mind, it is generally well argued and convincing.
I think there are a few logical difficulties on the theoretical and
conceptual side of Herngren's argument. For example, the attempt to
distinguish civil disobedience from direct action is clumsy and to some
degree self-contradictory. But these are minor flaws in an otherwise
exemplary text. It can be profitably read by both those within and outside
the movement. Path of Resistance: the Practice of Civil Disobedience by
Per Herngren. Translated by Margaret Rainey. 214 pp. Philadelphia: New
Society Publishers, 1993. $14.95 paper.
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Read Per Herngren's whole book on Internet:
Path of Resistance The practice of Civil disobedience (214p)
Buy "Path of Resistance"
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