The Gandhian Iceberg: A Nonviolence Manifesto for the Age of the Great Turning

by Chris Moore-Backman

The Gandhian Iceberg presents a bold, new interpretation of Gandhian nonviolence from the rare perspective of an author who is equal parts writer, scholar, and frontlines practitioner. The book faces the current crisis of climate change and the intensification of social unrest around the world, and calls for a new convergence of serious, spiritually-rooted US nonviolence activists prepared to offer themselves in service to a social change movement unlike any seen before. The book approaches radical social transformation and its realistic requirements, with a blend of solid research, moving personal testimony, and compelling vision. The Gandhian Iceberg is written from the heart, and doesn't shy away from difficult terrain. Facing and combatting white supremacy, the ways that high-tech "solutions" short-circuit efforts for social change, how one might come to embrace the possibility of death on the frontlines of nonviolent struggle--whatever strand of the conversation it engages, The Gandhian Iceberg is refreshingly plainspoken and thought-provoking.

Genres: Nonfiction

298 pages, Paperback

Published August 15, 2016

Reviews

[Jimmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent and accessible introductory summary of Gandhi’s thought that doesn’t live in the past but is grounded in the present. The book desires to recruit people into a national, even global, reinvigoration if a movement of principles non-violence grounded in the teaching of Gandhi (and MLK and others). This aspect of the book is both daunting and inspiring but seems not to be a total fit with the more explicitly Gandhian sections. Draws heavily on theorists like Joanna Macy, Naomi Klein, Walter Wink, and Ron Sider alongside Gandhi and King. Well worth the read for anyone interested in Gandhi or nonviolent social change.

[SHARON DELGADO · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It was courageous, creative, and insightful. It portrayed hope that disciplined Gandhian nonviolence, on the part of a relative few, could support the momentum toward bringing about "The Great Turning." Author Chris Moore-Backman writes: "When we have found one another and united ourselves in vision and purpose and spirit, we will say to the leadership of whatever mass movement, or movements, or movement of movements that may come on the scene in service of love, justice, and renewal: We stand ready. We're at your service."

[Kenley Neufeld · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well written challenge for the soul. Certainly uncomfortable at times, and also very motivational. Includes a specific call to action in this time of the Great Turning. Bringing nonviolence, climate change, and atonement and reparations for the victims of white supremacy together touching on non-dualistic approaches and the role of the spirit. You won't agree with everything, I certainly didn't, but you will find something to push us forward in caring for each other and the Earth.

[Keith Runyan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal book. Will ignite anyone who has long wished to devote their lives to a higher Truth.