The Challenge of the Peace Movement: Civilian Security and Civilian Emancipation

The NATO double decision relative to the deployment of intermediate range nuclear missiles in Europe dates to 1979, at which time it provoked no real mass response. The installation of the missiles was scheduled to take place in late 1983.

The first interpretation dominated the press during the 1981–1982 period. Subsequently, the second view began to prevail when it became increasingly evident that the communist parties played a relatively minor role in the protest movement.

I have discussed the French debate in “Vague pacifiste ou renouveau democratique,” PASSE-PRESENT No. 3 (1984).

Here it is important to note the new and important role played by medical doctors especially Randall Forsberg and the Physicians for Social Responsibility in launching the “freeze” campaign.

The term “active minority” is employed here in the sense given it by Serge Mascovici in his Social Influence and Social Change (London: Academic Press, 1976).

For example, “Peace in Search of Makers” was the title of a colloquium organized by Riverside Church in New York City, 4–5 December 1978, on the subject of reversing the arms race. See Rockman Jane , ed. Peace in Search of Makers (New York: Riverside Church “Reverse the Arms Race Convocation,” 1979).

See for example the many declarations issued by the Reagan administration in 1980–1982 to this effect.

For a re-examination of these movements and their results, see Hegedus Zsuzsa , Il presente e l'avvenire: Nuove pratiche e nuova rappresentazione sociale (Milan: Franco Angeli, 1985); and “Riflessioni sulla natura e sulle condizioni di articolazione di un nuovo spazio sociale,” in Le imperfette utope (Milan: Franco Angeli, 1984).

If at the beginning this protest most usually took the form of mass demonstrations, these were soon followed by referenda, the spread of which is of paramount importance.

The movements of the 1950s tended to follow the first pattern, while the “test ban” movement of the 1960s resembled the second.

On this subject see Zuckerman Sally , Nuclear Illusion and Reality (New York: Vintage Books, 1982); and Daniel Ford, Henry Kendall, and Steven Nadies, Beyond the Freeze (Boston: Beacon Press, 1982).

This was the call issued by actor Paul Newman in the highly successful film “War Without Winners” produced by the Center for Defense Information.

Opinion polls show that in Germany over 60% of the population oppose the deployment of the Pershing II. In the United States, referenda on the “freeze” held in a number of states during the 1982 mid-term elections showed that 50% of the population favored a freeze on nuclear arsenals. The referendum organized by the movement in Germany to coincide with the European elections registered 80% as opposed to the installation of the Pershing II (i.e., among those 60% of the electorate that voted).

That this issue did not prove to be central to the presidential campaign cannot be taken as proof of its exhaustion. In my opinion, this can be explained, on the one hand, by the importance of economic issues, and, on the other, the failure of the Democratic Party candidates (with the exception of Jesse Jackson) to advocate a reversal rather than a mere “freeze” of the arms race. The latter became in the discourse of the various candidates somewhat akin to “Mom and apple pie,” i.e., devoid of any content (as had been predicted by Randall Forsberg).

Beginning in 1981, referenda on the “freeze” were organized in most states. In 1983, referenda on the Pershing II were linked with demands for popular consultation (“Pershing Nein, Volksbefragung Ja!”). The latter, organized through the initiative of Peace Coordination, was to coincide with the June 1984 European elections.

This question, while of greatest importance, cannot be dealt with here. I take it up in my book on the peace movement, and it is the central issue in a forthcoming book on social movements and their activists. See note 8.

The Greens experienced this autonomy in the recent Saarland elections. The “pacifist” vote, supposedly controlled by the Greens, went instead to Oskar Lafontaine, a Social Democrat, who could deal with the German debate in all its diversity. His success points out, in addition, the major inroads this debate, stimulated through protest, has made within the SPD.

Hegedus , Il presente e l'avvenire, note 8.

Touraine Alain , Production de la societe (Paris: Seuil, 1973).

McNamara Robert , “The Military Role of Nuclear Weapons: Perceptions and Misperceptions,” Foreign Affairs Vol. 61, No. 1 (Fall 1983), pp. 59–80.

Such criticisms, emanating from unions and business executives alike, undermine the myth that military investments contribute to economic recovery and the creation of jobs.

Galbraith John Kenneth , The Voice of the Poor (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1983). Also, Richard Falk, Nuclear Weapons and the Future of Democracy (Totowa, New Jersey. Rowan and Allenheld, 1986).

The formidable and unexpected proliferation of popular initiatives in support of Africa and the alleviation of famine show that this new ethic of civil responsibility and transnational solidarity has transcended this particular movement and has made major inroads into civil society. Their actions reject any connotation of charity. Instead, they claim to act out of an obligation and responsibility, and they call for a new transnational and global solidarity, e.g. “We are the world.”.