RT Book
T1 Religion and war resistance in the Plowshares movement
T2 Cambridge studies in contentious politics
A1 Nepstad, Sharon Erickson
LA English
PP Cambridge
PB Cambridge University Press
YR 2008
UL https://www.ixtheo.de/Record/883337940
AB As the nuclear arms race exploded in the 1980s, a group of U.S. religious pacifists used radical nonviolence to intervene. Armed with hammers, they broke into military facilities to pound on missiles and pour blood on bombers, enacting the prophet Isaiah's vision: 'Nations shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.' Calling themselves the Plowshares movement, these controversial activists received long prison sentences; nonetheless, their movement grew and expanded to Europe and Australia. In this book, Sharon Erickson Nepstad documents the emergence and international diffusion of this unique form of high-risk collective action. Drawing on interviews, original survey research, and archival data, Nepstad explains why some Plowshares groups have persisted over time while others have struggled or collapsed. Comparing the U.S. movement with less successful Plowshares groups overseas, Nepstad reveals how decisions about leadership, organization, retention, and cultural adaptations influence movements' long-term trajectories
AB Introduction: Movement challenges and trajectories -- Historical development of the U.S. Plowshares movement -- Tactical legitimation and the theology of resistance -- Sustaining commitment -- Death of a charismatic leader -- Intermittent resistance : the German, Dutch, and Australian Plowshares movements -- Internal tensions and implosion : the Swedish Plowshares movement -- Witnessing or winning? : the British Plowshares movement -- Conclusion: From failed attempts to persistent resistance : understanding divergent movement trajectories -- Appendix A: Survey questionnaire -- Appendix B: List of interviews by author -- Appendix C: Chronological list of Plowshares actions by region
NO Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015)
CN JZ5575
SN 9780511619854
K1 Plowshares Eight (Group)
K1 Antinuclear movement
K1 Nuclear Disarmament
K1 Nonviolence
DO 10.1017/CBO9780511619854