Conflict Management, Nonviolence and the Rapidity of Change

Abstract

Today, nonviolent actions have become preferred over violent actions to bring necessary societal changes. However, some actors will rather utilize violent movement due to its perceived rapidity of achieving desired changes compared to nonviolent actions. The study, therefore, examines the rapidity at which social and political changes ensue when nonviolent conflict management techniques – avoidance, competition, compromise, accommodation and collaboration – in the form of strikes, protests, civil disobedience and boycotts are utilized to manage conflicts. While these nonviolent conflict management techniques are regarded as slow and protracted compared to the rapidity of change violent actions bring; violent actions are however destructive and temporary. Nonviolent conflict management actions on the other hand are much more constructive and according to Gandhi ‘the swiftest the world has seen, producing enduring changes the society needs to develop. The narrative, therefore, should not be the rapidity at which social changes occur, but the process and how constructive and enduring the changes are.