4. Violence and Nonviolence

If an expansive conception of contributive justice is the ultimate end toward which diverse movements for social justice are oriented, what are the means by which we can advance toward this end? In this chapter we trace the evolution of thought on the means of pursuing social justice by considering one of its primary conceptual axes: violence and nonviolence. We examine a range of arguments regarding whether the ends justify any means — either morally or pragmatically — and whether means inevitably prefigure ends. We examine empirical research regarding the comparative efficacy of violent and nonviolent means; we note initial evidence that nonviolent means may be more effective; we examine the contested nature of this research; and we discuss the theory-laden nature of empirical observations regarding the comparative efficacy of violence and nonviolence. We thus call for a posture of humility on this ongoing path of collective learning. We also suggest that the moral and pragmatic questions about violence and nonviolence may not be distinct questions at all. To suggest there is a moral foundation to human existence is to suggest that collective human flourishing can only be achieved by discovering the latent normative principles that govern human existence, and by pragmatically learning how to apply these principles more systematically in efforts to construct a more just social reality.