Plowshares
eBook - PDF

Plowshares

Protest, Performance, and Religious Identity in the Nuclear Age

  1. English
  2. PDF
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

Plowshares

Protest, Performance, and Religious Identity in the Nuclear Age

About this book

In September 1980, eight Catholic activists made their way into a Pennsylvania General Electric plant housing parts for nuclear missiles. Evading security guards, these activists pounded on missile nose cones with hammers and then covered the cones in their own blood. This act of nonviolent resistance was their answer to calls for prophetic witness in the Old Testament: "They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not take up sword against nation; they shall never again know war."

Plowshares explores the closely interwoven religious and social significance of the group's use of performance to achieve its goals. It looks at the group's acts of civil disobedience, such as that undertaken at the GE plant in 1980, and the Plowshares' behavior at the legal trials that result from these protests. Interpreting the Bible as a mandate to enact God's kingdom through political resistance, the Plowshares work toward "symbolic disarmament," with the aim of eradicating nuclear weapons.

Plowshares activists continue to carry out such "divine obediences" against facilities where equipment used in the production or deployment of nuclear weapons is manufactured or stored. Whether one agrees or disagrees with their actions, this volume helps us better understand their motivations, logic, identity, and ultimate goal.

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Yes, you can access Plowshares by Kristen Tobey in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Theology & Religion & North American History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. COVER Front
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Table of Contents
  4. Acknowledgments
  5. Introduction
  6. Notes to Introduction
  7. Chapter 1: “We in the Underground Are Trying to Do Something Else”: The Plowshares’ History and Development
  8. Notes to Chapter 1
  9. Chapter 2: “Something Deeper than Reason”: The Logic and Tactics of Symbolic Disarmament
  10. Notes to Chapter 2
  11. Chapter 3: “Our Only Real Credential”: The Rhetorical Performance of Symbolic Boundaries
  12. Notes to Chapter 3
  13. Chapter 4: “Just to Speakthe Truth”: The Plowshares’ Theory of the Case
  14. Notes to Chapter 4
  15. Chapter 5: “Your Honor, I Object. . . . SheIs Talking AboutGod”: Boundary Negotiations in the Courtroom
  16. Notes to Chapter 5
  17. Conclusion
  18. Notes to Conclusion
  19. Notes
  20. Bibliography
  21. Index
  22. COVER Back