★★★★★ 5
Excellent Handbook!
Format: Paperback
This is a great book for anyone from beginner to seasoned activist. Kazu Haga breaks down Kingian Nonviolence and other justice and healing modalities in a way that makes them very accessible to a wide array of readers. I plan to give this to several elder activists - and my 14 year old niece.
Haga breaks down the Six Principles of Kingian Nonviolence, Restorative Justice/Practices (RP), separates & defines four types of conflict as well as other clarifying enumerations of large concepts. As an RP practitioner, I found his handling of restorative work to be excellent, and I found the Kingian principles revelatory and beautiful.
Kingian Nonviolence dispels the myth that nonviolence is passivity "Nonviolence is not about what not to do. It is about what you are going to do", and has clear steps toward justice and conflict work that have proven efficacy. Haga's handling of nuance and contradiction is unique and powerful, as well as his personal approach to understanding alternate perspectives (listening to right wing radio on regular basis - with an open mind -for instance). More than one thing can be true at the same time, we can expand to hold contradiction, and still seek accountability and healing.
The clarity of why shaming and punishment doesn't work for preventing future harm, or healing harm that has occurred is present not only in the concepts in the book, but his personal experience via years of offering trainings in prisons. There is still a lot of resistance to RP and nonviolent approaches to harm - especially in Law Enforcement and Corrections, and I think the accessibility and clarity in this book are useful to help naysayers possibly see the light of why these healing and justice practices ultimately protect us all.
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Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2020
