Book launch: Professor Ramin Jahanblegoo With a response by Dr Debora Tonelli

This book launch, open to all the university community, and hosted by Professor Mario I Aguilar, Director of the Centre for the Study of Religion and Politics, marks the first public engagement in St Andrews of our distinguished Leverhulme Visiting Professor at the School of History, Professor Ramin Jahanblegoo.

He is Professor and Vice-Dean at Jindal Global Law School, India, and Director of the Mahatma Gandhi Centre for Nonviolence and Peace Studies at O.P. Jindal Global University, India. A philosopher born in Iran, Professor Ramin has published extensively on issues of nonviolence and has lectured all over the world on this necessity for human freedom.

Thinking non-violence: struggle and resistance presents a solid introduction to nonviolence as a mode of thinking and a mode of life, but also as a strategy of self-defence and social and political transformation.

‘Nonviolence' is a frequently misunderstood, frequently abused term. It can be used in very narrow or broad constructs and can be based on a wide variety of philosophies and practices. The book examines several of the main currents of nonviolent thought and practice, as approaches that concentrate around the concepts of ‘struggle' and ‘resistance'. By focusing on these two concepts, the book examines the theories and principles of nonviolence, as well as the religious and philosophical underpinnings of their commitments.

The book dwells on the theoretical discussion of the concept and history of nonviolence as a revolutionary concept for a change in mentalities and realities of our societies. It brings to the forefront the philosophy of nonviolence as it developed from Socrates to Thoreau, and Jesus to the Dalai Lama. The book covers Gandhi, Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr, and other advocates and practitioners of non-violence in the 20th Century.

The event will allow Professor Ramin to outline some of his central tenants, followed by a response from Dr Debora Tonelli of Fondazione Bruno Kessler & Georgetown University, who wrote the Foreword to the book. There will be time for questions and discussion.