No description available.

This study analyzes five speeches delivered by Martin Luther King, Jr. to determine the ways in which King used the elements of prophetic rhetoric. It examines the major Old Testament prophets, Amos and Ezekiel specifically, for parallels in the following areas: (1) the life, personality, and spiritual calling of the prophet, (2) the language, prophecies, and central themes of the prophet's message, and (3) the historical period in which the prophet lived and the events that created a need for the rhetoric of prophecy.

This study developed a model of youth work practice based on a philosophy of nonviolence. Youth work in Australia is in the process of creating a clear self-consciousness and idea of its role, and a philosophy of nonviolence provides a strong foundation for further development. The study was based on the first three phases of intervention research (problem analysis and project planning, information gathering and synthesis, and design) within a heuristic paradigm. It involved a literature review, a telephone survey of 60 youth workers, in-depth interviews with 20 young people and 15 youth workers, and focus groups with 16 youth workers. Literature on youth work in Australia and Britain, and youth care in Canada and South Africa helped identify key features of youth work. Ten principles of nonviolence were developed based on principled nonviolence literature. The telephone survey provided a broad overview of current practice in New South Wales, and identified issues for further exploration in the interviews. The in-depth interviews with youth workers and young people explored their perceptions of violence and discrimination within their services; ways in which youth workers prevent and respond to disruptive, violent and unsafe behaviour; and ways in which youth work practice can be consistent with a philosophy of nonviolence. Based on the research, a model of nonviolent practice was developed, and then refined following focus groups with youth workers. The model encourages youth workers to be committed to nonviolence in all they do; to develop a reflective work practice; to build professional, caring relationships; to focus on power-with; to be committed to social change; to apply principles of social justice; to ensure there are adequate, appropriate staff and resources; to negotiate clear expectations and boundaries; to create a positive environment; to respond to behaviour nonviolently; and to facilitate informal education. / PhD Doctorate

The aim of this thesis is to assess Martin Luther King Jr.’s theory, practice, and pragmatic function of Nonviolent Direct Action, and to propose that it must be understood as violent in a substantive way. The purpose of interpreting King’s Nonviolent Direct Action as violent is to show the efficacy of the theory, which is to fend off critiques of futility and to expose the psychological and philosophical depth of the seemingly simple tactic. Nonviolent Direct Action is commonly considered to be a method of civil disobedience that aims to motivate substantial social or political change without a physically violent clash. However, this thesis identifies more fundamentally the presence of an intention to inflict a harmful or painful psychological effect on those it is directed against, to affect a response from the conscience that motivates a change of behaviour. For that, there must be a strategic staging of events by the oppressed and their supporters who are unable and unwilling to overcome the oppressor on traditionally physically violent terms. The unviability of traditional violence for the oppressed group necessitates a reliance on a psychological tactic to invoke negative emotion in the oppressor. After an introductory chapter, this thesis will proceed to reconstruct King’s theory of nonviolence by examining a collection of his written works, written records of his sermons and speeches, and Jonathan Eig’s biography King: A Life. Next, a chapter is devoted to analyzing the novel categorization in this thesis of Nonviolent Direct Action as violent by considering what psychological violence means, and how other nonviolent tactics that exclude psychological violence are insufficient to effect social or political change in contexts of the oppression of Black Americans. The fourth chapter examines Richard Gregg’s book The Power of Nonviolence, which supports the case for the use of nonviolent tactics in the face of physically violent oppression. Maintaining, among other things, that nonviolent tactics promote the well-being of the oppressor and the oppressed and allow for good standing between the groups in the future. The fifth chapter contains an exposition of William James’s work including Principles of Psychology and other essays. Comparisons between James’s theory and King’s practice will be drawn, especially concerning their positions on innate moral feelings of harmony, dissonance, and the moral universe. The sixth chapter will make concluding remarks.

Thesis (Ph. D. in Religion)--Vanderbilt University, Dec. 2008. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Ce mémoire sur les fondements de la désobéissance civile se divise en trois parties. Le premier chapitre concerne la définition de la désobéissance civile d’après l’analyse d’Hugo Adam Bedau. Le deuxième chapitre traite des origines historiques du concept à partir des textes de David Henry Thoreau et Léon Tolstoï jusqu’aux campagnes de Mohandas Gandhi et Martin Luther King. Le dernier chapitre porte sur la pratique de la désobéissance civile dans les régimes démocratiques selon John Rawls. L’objectif de ce mémoire est de démontrer que la désobéissance civile est conforme à la justice malgré son caractère illégal, qu’elle a été bénéfique historiquement à l’évolution des mentalités et qu’elle est nécessaire en démocratie. / This study regarding the foundation of civil disobedience is divided in three parts. The first chapter concerns the definition of civil disobedience by Hugo Adam Bedau. The second chapter deals with the historical origins of the concept from the writings of David Henry Thoreau and Leo Tolstoy to the campaigns of Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King. The last chapter focus on the practice of civil disobedience in democratic regimes according to John Rawls. The purpose of this study is to prove that civil disobedience is true to justice despite being illegal, that it has been historically beneficial in the evolution of mentalities and that it is essential to democracy.

Den här uppsatsen är en kritisk analys av King och hans ickevåldsideologi. Uppsatsens syfte och avgränsning är att granska och redogöra för den ideologi som King genom sina tal, predikningar och övriga skrifter redogjorde för. Metoden jag använt mig av är att systematisera Kings ideologi för att därefter analysera den. Efter en kritisk granskning av Kings ickevåldsideologi står det klart att den är koherent, men att hans argumentation emellanåt är bristfällig. I synnerhet brister King vid en rimlighetsprövning.                       Kings ickevåldsideologi utgick från en teocentrisk världsbild med naturrättslig filosofi. Han menade att alla människor är skapade till Guds avbild och att alla människor har möjligheten att göra gott. Kings ickevåldsideologi grundar sig på aktivt motstånd där människan med kärleken som redskap och civil olydnad kan åstadkomma samhällsförändringar. Han tog tydligt avstånd från all typ av våldshandlingar och menade att våld aldrig medför en varaktig förändring, att våld är omoraliskt och ovärdigt en människa samt att ickevåld är det enda sättet att förändra samhällsproblem sett ur ett långsiktigt perspektiv. / The purpose of this Master thesis is to give an account of and review the ideology yhat King presented through his preaching, speeches and other sources. The metod I have chosen for this purpose is to systematize King’s ideology and the to critically analyze it. When doing so I have discoverd that King’s non-violent ideology is coherent, but that his argumentation is somewhat defective, especially when examing its plausibility.                      King’s non-violence ideology was based on a theocentric wordview and a natural law pholosophy. He tought that all men are created in the image of God and that all humans have the possibility to do good. King’s non-violence ideology is based on active resistance where people use love and civil disobedience as tools to enforce subversive changes. King was against all types of violent actions and stated that violence never leads to sustainable change, that violence is immoral and unworthy of any human. King also said that non-violence is the only way to combat societal problems in a long-term perspective.

The aim of this piece of research is to analyze how Martin Luther King Jr. was portrayed in three U.S newspapers based on framing theory. Through the use of qualitative frame analysis, ten newspaper articles are studied from the period 20/04/1967-11/05/1967. The dates were selected in relation to King’s public opposition to the Vietnam war. The results show that the articles are in most cases characterized by a focus on difference of opinion, polemic responses, and appeals to MLK to stop opposing the war. When understood from the lens of framing theory, this way of writing has been termed the conflict frame. Furthermore, three classroom tasks related to the newspaper articles are suggested. These activities are based on the Swedish curriculum for teaching English as a second language, schema theory, and framing theory.

<p>Up until the 19th century, religion was used as a way of legitimizing slavery in America. With the rise of the civil rights movement religion seems to have played a quite different role. This essay aims to explore the role of religion in the ideologies of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. The speeches, writings and actions of these two men have been analysed in hope that the result will contribute to the larger study of American civil rights history.</p><p>This essay proposes that both Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X infused their political message with religious ideas and that they leaned on religion for support and inspiration. By analysing the discourse headed by King and X it becomes clear that in direct contrast to how religion was used during slavery, religion was used as a way of legitimizing equality (and in some cases black superiority) between races during the civil rights movement.</p>

Thesis (M.A.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-104).