The Case for Nonkilling Global Political Science in Service to Nonkilling Global Transformation
International Studies Association Working Paper.
Summary: Prepared for the panel on “Nonkilling Global Political Science,” organized and chaired by Professor Burton M. Sapin, at the 41st Annual Convention of the International Studies Association, Los Angeles, California, March 14-18, 2000. For this purpose a nonkilling society is taken to be a human community from smallest to largest encompassing all humankind that has the following characteristics. There is no killing of humans, at least, and no threats to kill. There are no weapons for killing (“hardware”) and no legitimizations, justifications, or permissions to kill (“software”). And there are no conditions of society that depend for maintenance or change upon the threat or use of lethal force. That is, a nonkilling society is taken to be one in which humans neither kill nor threaten to kill each other (…).
