Social defence: arguments and actions



Publication Details

Martin, B. (1991). 'Social defence: arguments and actions', in S. Anderson & J. Larmore (Eds.), Social defence: arguments and actions (pp. 81-141). London: Myrtle Solomon Memorial Fund and War Resisters' International.


It was in 1980 that I first became involved in promoting social defence, along with several others in the group Canberra Peacemakers. At that stage we called it nonviolent defence, but the name didn't matter. No one that we knew had heard of it or understood a thing about it. So the immediate challenge was to be able to describe the idea in a readily understandable way to those unfamiliar with it. It wasn't long before the phrase "Social defence is nonviolent community resistance to aggression as an alternative to military defence" came tripping off our tongues.

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