Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Sociology of Culture Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 22 of 22

Full-Text Articles in Sociology of Culture

Mahatma Gandhi, Lester R. Kurtz Jan 2012

Mahatma Gandhi, Lester R. Kurtz

Lester R. Kurtz

Mahatma Gandhi, is widely cited by contemporary activists as a source of inspiration and strategies. Gandhi was arguably unparalleled at mobilizing resources, taking advantage of – and creating – political opportunities, and effectively framing such messages as justice, equality, and independence or freedom (Swaraj, self-reliance). His legacy has almost become a cliché among movement organizers worldwide.


Abdul Ghaffar Khan's Nonviolent Jihad, Lester R. Kurtz Jun 2011

Abdul Ghaffar Khan's Nonviolent Jihad, Lester R. Kurtz

Lester R. Kurtz

Examines Abdul Ghaffar Khan's nonviolent civil resistance rooted in Islam and growing out of a violent mountain culture in the Northwest Frontier Province of British India. The movement he mobilized counters the misunderstandings about Islam as fundamentally violent and the idea that nonviolent resistance cannot come out of a violent culture.


How Shall We Fight Imperialism? A Response To Stephen Gowans, Lester R. Kurtz Jan 2011

How Shall We Fight Imperialism? A Response To Stephen Gowans, Lester R. Kurtz

Lester R. Kurtz

No abstract provided.


Conflict Resolution, Provocation Or Transformation? Ask Gandhi, Lester R. Kurtz, Daniel Ritter Jan 2011

Conflict Resolution, Provocation Or Transformation? Ask Gandhi, Lester R. Kurtz, Daniel Ritter

Lester R. Kurtz

No abstract provided.


Peaceful Relationships, Lester R. Kurtz Jan 2010

Peaceful Relationships, Lester R. Kurtz

Lester R. Kurtz

Peaceful relationships are sustained interactions characterized by the absence or low levels of violence. Easier to theorize or write about than to sustain in practice, from interpersonal interactions to relations at the global level and among states, institutions, and social groups, peaceful relationships are the building blocks of a more peaceful world. Interwoven with a web of violence in human affairs is a web of peaceful relations, from the micro level to the macro level, that probably shape most human behavior.


Gandhi And His Legacies, Lester R. Kurtz Jan 2008

Gandhi And His Legacies, Lester R. Kurtz

Lester R. Kurtz

No abstract provided.


Sustainable Development, Anita Komandari, Lester R. Kurtz Jan 2008

Sustainable Development, Anita Komandari, Lester R. Kurtz

Lester R. Kurtz

The dominant model of development, characterized by large-scale industrialization and neoliberal policies, is unsustainable in terms of its role in the marginalization of many segments of human society and the exploitation of nature. This article presents the imperative need for a development model that is sustainable, arguing that it is important to break out of the unilateral ideology of devel- opment and incorporate democratic pluralism. It discusses some important aspects of a community-centric development model that form the foundations of sustain- ability, namely, community control and management of resources, community self-rule, and self-reliance.


Gandhi's Paradox: The Warrior And The Pacifist, Lester R. Kurtz Jan 2006

Gandhi's Paradox: The Warrior And The Pacifist, Lester R. Kurtz

Lester R. Kurtz

No abstract provided.


Dalai Lama Darshan, Lester R. Kurtz Sep 2005

Dalai Lama Darshan, Lester R. Kurtz

Lester R. Kurtz

No abstract provided.


From Heresies To Holy Wars: Toward A Theory Of Religious Conflict, Lester R. Kurtz Mar 2005

From Heresies To Holy Wars: Toward A Theory Of Religious Conflict, Lester R. Kurtz

Lester R. Kurtz

Explores the elements of a theory of religious conflict, starting with Simmel's understanding of conflict as a form of human sociation and religion as content of a conflict (religious rhetoric and framing are used to carry or explain the conflict) vs. the form of religious conflict, in which the conflict itself takes on a sacred nature. I also examine the ritualization of conflict and the nature of conflict symbols, that is highly-charged symbols that become lightning rods for conflict.


Rethinking Power, Lester R. Kurtz Feb 2005

Rethinking Power, Lester R. Kurtz

Lester R. Kurtz

No abstract provided.


Karma As Social Theory, Lester R. Kurtz Jan 2005

Karma As Social Theory, Lester R. Kurtz

Lester R. Kurtz

No abstract provided.


Solving The Qur’Anic Paradox, Lester R. Kurtz, Mariam Ramadhani Kurtz Jan 2005

Solving The Qur’Anic Paradox, Lester R. Kurtz, Mariam Ramadhani Kurtz

Lester R. Kurtz

No abstract provided.


Parading Persuasion: Nonviolent Collective Action As Discourse In Northern Ireland, Lester R. Kurtz Jan 2002

Parading Persuasion: Nonviolent Collective Action As Discourse In Northern Ireland, Lester R. Kurtz

Lester R. Kurtz

No abstract provided.


Hildegard Goss-Mayr, Lester R. Kurtz Jan 2001

Hildegard Goss-Mayr, Lester R. Kurtz

Lester R. Kurtz

No abstract provided.


Local Gods And Universal Faiths, Lester R. Kurtz Jan 2001

Local Gods And Universal Faiths, Lester R. Kurtz

Lester R. Kurtz

No abstract provided.


"We Have Bare Hands'" Nonviolent Social Movements In The Soviet Block, Lee Smithey, Lester R. Kurtz Jan 1999

"We Have Bare Hands'" Nonviolent Social Movements In The Soviet Block, Lee Smithey, Lester R. Kurtz

Lester R. Kurtz

No abstract provided.


Third World Voices Redefining Peace., Lester R. Kurtz, Shu-Ju Ada Cheng Jan 1998

Third World Voices Redefining Peace., Lester R. Kurtz, Shu-Ju Ada Cheng

Lester R. Kurtz

Suggests that "Third World countries" exists as a category and that people who live there have a distinct perspective on peace. Redefinition and reconceptualization of peace from various standpoints; Regional perspectives on peace; Western definition of peace.


Untangling The Web Of Violence, Lester R. Kurtz, Jennifer Turpin Jan 1997

Untangling The Web Of Violence, Lester R. Kurtz, Jennifer Turpin

Lester R. Kurtz

No abstract provided.


Between Scylla And Charybdis: Sociological Objectivity And Bias, Lester R. Kurtz Jan 1989

Between Scylla And Charybdis: Sociological Objectivity And Bias, Lester R. Kurtz

Lester R. Kurtz

The Greek tragic flaw refers to a virtue extended to such an extreme that it becomes a vice. Sociology's tragic flaw includes a virtue - the pursuit of objectivity - when carried to an extreme exchanges personal prejudices for abstract ones.


The Politics Of Heresy, Lester R. Kurtz Jan 1983

The Politics Of Heresy, Lester R. Kurtz

Lester R. Kurtz

No abstract provided.


Freedom And Domination, Lester R. Kurtz Jan 1979

Freedom And Domination, Lester R. Kurtz

Lester R. Kurtz

No abstract provided.