Abstract
The Technology of Nonviolence focuses on local or community-level interventions in early warning and early response to conflicts. Joseph Bock considers ways that private citizens take charge of violence prevention, often with assistance from local governments, but without awaiting responses by national and international governments and organizations after conflict and violence have erupted or escalated. Bock’s emphasis is on what can be done about violence, given that much focus has been offered elsewhere to understand why conflict and violence occur. The book considers various technologies used in the prevention of violence but ultimately claims that newer technologies cannot forgo older and more basic human skills used in effective approaches to violence prevention.
Bock highlights reasons why early warning and early response are especially difficult at the level of top leaders engaged in violence prevention: intervening from the outside can present political quagmires. Committing peacekeepers in response to an early warning requires expedited political decisions that are difficult to garner, and constituencies are not as moved by the notion of conflict at the early warning and early response stage as they are by images of people already suffering. For these reasons, the record of early warning and early response by top-level leaders is not strong, while approaches at local levels have secured greater success.
Bock explains what he refers to as a common view among scholars and peace practitioners—that early warning and early response work well at a grassroots or local level. However, this does not mean that effectiveness comes by moving from top levels of leadership to the grassroots. Rather, movement is from the grassroots to “middle-out”; that is, linking grassroots efforts and moderate leaders in middle to top levels of political, civic, and religious leadership (p. xiii).
The use of technology is highlighted for those engaging in grassroots and local levels of leadership, especially pertaining to community organizing. Examples of newer technologies include crowdsourcing, text messaging, social media, and internet forms, which can serve as substitutes for organizing. Bock indicates, however, that the helpfulness of these technologies is increased when they are combined with sophisticated strategies and effective organizing. Newer technological approaches to conflict early warning and early response should be seen to complement older approaches, Bock emphasizes, rather than replace them. Even in a world of digital mapping facilitated by text message information, social media communication, and internet form submission, intervention training and quick decision-making are still crucial. Bock states, “Training people still matters. Organizing still matters. Strategy still matters” (p. xiv).
Early in the book, Bock conveys the evolution of approaches to conflict early warning and early response beginning with the 1990s, in which systems were designed to inform outsiders of potential conflict in other countries; then to the early 2000s, when field monitors were used so that top-level decision-makers could take action before an anticipated crisis; and finally to 2003–04, when field monitors in conflict zones not only gathered data but became actively involved in violence mitigation.
Bock uses five case studies to help uncover common themes in the technologies, strategies, and tactics of nonviolence. Bock argues for the importance of human induction, especially the combination of induction and technology. Thus, despite the utility of various technologies, the ability of human beings to synthesize, identify trends and patterns, and provide summary snapshots of complex situations is considered necessary to local conflict early warning and early response endeavors. The five case studies used in the text demonstrate how organizations limit the number of people being sent warnings, due to the human propensity to panic in the event of broad dissemination—just one pattern that emerges throughout.
The Technology of Nonviolence is a very clear and well-written book. It is grounded in research literature throughout, including a variety of refereed journal articles and scholarly books. It also draws from online sources and newspaper articles relevant to the topic at hand. The book is organized by first addressing issues of theory and methodology and advocating for an applied theory of violence prevention. The central chapters then highlight violence prevention in particular locations, including the variety of strategies and sites in which newer technologies and older strategies have unfolded.
The breadth of the case studies and discussion is impressive, in terms of regions of the globe, particular conflicts, and specific approaches taken. Central chapters highlight ethnoreligious violence, gang violence, post-election violence, and tribal violence, in places as wide-ranging as Ahmedabad, Chicago, Sri Lanka, Kenya, and East Africa. Chapters Eight and Nine are quite useful in comparing the approaches highlighted in the central chapters, suggesting techniques for effective intervention. Chapter Ten is also interesting in that it addresses paths forward when it is unlikely that violence prevention will work.
In the book’s final section, Bock addresses criticisms and recommendations for early warning and early response systems. He conveys that criticisms fall into three categories: not focusing on causes of violence, draining resources from higher priority programs, and lacking a mandate to intervene. He centers these criticisms as he provides recommendations for the field of violence prevention. His main claim in the book, nicely synthesized in the conclusion, is that “there must be a balance between advocating for structural change and engaging in operational violence prevention” (p. 204).
The book has several appendixes, a list of acronyms, and a glossary. These are all helpful for the reader, especially one untrained in the specifics of the field. When applicable, scholarly origins of terms are highlighted in the glossary. The notes, references, and index are also strong and thorough. Overall, this work is detailed and scholarly, while being clear and accessible. The book is of value to those wishing to further consider the role of technology and on-the-ground organizing in the detection, interruption, and prevention of violence, as well as those generally interested in conflict, peacekeeping, and peace studies.