Violently Peaceful: Tibetan Self-Immolation and the Problem of the Non/Violence Binary
The paper investigates the conceptual dichotomy of violence and nonviolence in reference to the self-immolations that have been taking place in Tibet for the last several years. First using the insights of Hannah Arendt to distinguish between the categories of violent, nonviolent and peaceful, I app...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
De Gruyter
2015
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In: |
Open theology
Year: 2015, Volume: 1, Issue: 1, Pages: 146–159 |
Further subjects: | B
Tibetan Buddhism
B Self-immolation B Transgression B Violence and Nonviolence B Power |
Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
Summary: | The paper investigates the conceptual dichotomy of violence and nonviolence in reference to the self-immolations that have been taking place in Tibet for the last several years. First using the insights of Hannah Arendt to distinguish between the categories of violent, nonviolent and peaceful, I approach the question of violence as the problem of acts that transgress prohibitions against causing harm. Using that heuristic, I examine the ways multiple ethical systems are vying for recognition regarding the selfimmolations, and how a certain Buddhist ambivalence around extreme acts of devotion complicate any easy designations of the act as ‘violent’ or ‘nonviolent’. I conclude by suggesting how any such classification inculcates us into questions of power and assertions of appropriate authority. |
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ISSN: | 2300-6579 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: Open theology
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1515/opth-2015-0004 |