Lawrence Wittner, Professor Emeritus at the State University of New York at Albany, has written a delightful memoir of his life as a public intellectual and activist. Working for Peace and Justice is a compelling chronicle not just of an interesting man living in interesting times, but also how he worked to improve those times, and how that work has enriched his life as well as those close to him
In April, FPIF published an essay by historian Lawrence Wittner on the future of the U.S. peace movement. His call for a large, national peace organization generated a flurry of responses, which we published collectively in What’s Next for the Peace Movement. Here we publish three final comments from Robin Hahnel, Michael Foley, and Matt Meyer.
Foreign Policy In Focus invited a group of peace activists and scholars to respond to Lawrence Wittner’s proposal for a strong, national peace organization. Below you can read 11 responses to his essay How the Peace Movement Can Win.
The peace movement is a very important part of American life. Much like the labor movement, the racial justice movement, and the women’s movement, the peace movement is comprised of an array of organizations and millions of supporters. It maintains a visible public presence through meetings, demonstrations, vigils, leaflets, letters to the editor, newspaper ads, art, music, lobbying, and occasional civil disobedience actions. In addition, it inspires the loyalty of prominent cultural figures, intellectuals, and politicians. And many of its key goals—for example, ending the war in Iraq, fostering international cooperation, and securing nuclear disarmament—have broad popular support.