ABSTRACT

Peace movements are in a state of flux that is on the one hand presenting new opportunities for increased grassroots participation and impact, but on the other hand, creating difficulties in the self-identity of these groups and of individuals affiliated with them. A fundamental factor in the challenges now confronted by peace movements is the global dialectic in peace thinking in the Twentieth Century. Brian Tokar’s study of The Green Alternative has a quite similar ring when he notes that the “Greens are not a single issue movement. Rajni Kothari sees “grass-roots movements and non-party formations” as springing “from a deep stirring of consciousness and an intuitive awareness of a crisis that could conceivably be turned into a catalyst of new opportunities.” Swedish economists Mats Friberg and Bjorn Hettne describe a challenging vision of an emerging worldwide “Green” movement that offers an alternative to the “Blue” and the “Red”.