The Phases of My Nonviolent Activism I have recently had more cause than usual to reflect on the evolution of my activist role: what I do as an activist certainly keeps changing! But I have written this article in response to the suggestion of Jo Barter. It follows a recent discussion with Jo, another with Bernadette McCartney and Steven Leonard, and a third with Anita McKone, each of which explored one or more aspects of this subject. Throughout most of the 1970s, I was engaged in what I call my 'good works for the old order' period of activism: lifesaving. The period from 1981 to 1985 was a period of intense personal and political learning about feminism, anarchism and nonviolence, which included workshops, extensive reading, campaigns (such as the Franklin River blockade), and much emotional healing, including counselling from an excellent psychologist. During this period, I missed the leadership that might have given my activism greater focus and effectiveness. Nevertheless, two long-term campaigns that I commenced during this period continue: vote refusal, which I started in 1982, and war tax resistance, which I began in 1983. Although these campaigns have taken considerable energy in the past (the tax resistance has involved many nonviolent actions, a variety of responses from the tax office and bankruptcy trustee, and three substantial court cases), I put relatively little energy into either of them these days. I was overseas for a year during 1985-1986, but then spent the years from 1987-1991 heavily involved in several campaigns; for example, the anti- nuclear warships campaigns in Brisbane during 1987 and Melbourne during 1988, the Melbourne Rainforest Action Group (MRAG) from 1988-1990, the Animal Liberation duck rescue team in 1989, the South-East Forests (of New South Wales) campaign in 1989, the protests against the U.S. base at Nurrungar in 1989, the East Gippsland forest campaign in 1990, and the Gulf Peace Team in 1991. It was during the years of my involvement in MRAG that I consciously set out to create a nonviolence network in Melbourne. I did this, for example, by introducing nonviolence into MRAG and other campaigns, by conducting nonviolence workshops, by organising 'Nights of Nonviolence', and by generally encouraging activists to see that the philosophy and practice of nonviolence could be used to unite their personal and political lives as well as their different campaigns. From early 1991 until mid-1993, I was engaged in an intense period of research and writing about nonviolence philosophy and strategy. During this period, I read a great deal more of the literature on nonviolence (from its many perspectives), but used my ten years of experience as a nonviolent activist to earth my writing in the reality of day-to-day campaign work. When this writing (the book on nonviolent defence) was completed, I committed myself to sharing the work involved in three interrelated facets of nonviolence: the administration, networking and education work that I knew were necessary to make the nonviolence network in Melbourne and Australia move forward. Thus, for example, I played an active part in setting up the Centre for Nonviolence c/- Commonground, made more effort to communicate (by telephone, letter and email) with nonviolent activists around Australia (and overseas), and recruited people to help me re- establish the Nonviolence Education Collective in Melbourne (so that we could again offer regular introductory workshops). As responsibility for the administration, networking and education functions within the Melbourne nonviolence community become shared more widely, I am concentrating more of my own attention on education and personal support (including counselling) work. Several people, including old friends among interstate activists, have asked me why. The reason reflects my personal experience as a nonviolent activist. In our recent discussion, Bernadette and Steve indicated that they were tired of activists 'dumping their personal stuff' in action groups and that they would like to work with activists 'who have their act together'. My response was: 'Name five activists in this category'. They were silent. My experience has taught me that activists burnout, usually very quickly. For example, the activists of my generation (I am 43) are, on the whole, much less active than they were and, while there are obviously several reasons for this, burnout and lack of personal support to maintain the activist focus in their lives are certainly key ones. So, as I reflected on my years of activist experience during the intense research phase from 1991 to 1993, I realised, more deeply than I had previously, that one thing we need is activist support structures that run parallel with action campaigns and which allow activists to do their physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual nurturing within an activist context. And in a way that does not interfere with the work of action groups, because people's unresolved emotional issues will interfere with groups if they cannot be dealt with somewhere. How many of us have had the experience of people 'dumping their personal stuff' in groups (of various types) because they have nowhere else to dump it? As a result of this realisation, I decided to shift the focus of my activism (for now, anyway) to the support and education of nonviolent leaders. Therefore, I now offer my personal support (through the five Nonviolent Leaders Support Groups,1 the Men's Support Group, and on a one- to-one basis) as part of the 'Web of Personal and Political Support' that I encourage these activists to create for themselves. In creating this Web, I encourage activists to identify those activities (for example, painting, writing, music, going bush) that enrich their personal lives physically, emotionally, spiritually and intellectually; to identify those friends who can support them in any of these ways (and how); and to consider the potential value of doing co-counselling, being part of a personal support group, seeing a psychologist and other things besides. In the medium term, this 'Web of Personal and Political Support' (which, in Melbourne, exists within the wider framework of the nonviolence community) might help them to do, for example, the emotional healing necessary for them to identify, and then make, appropriate changes in their personal lives (for instance, to improve their diet or to give up drugs and alcohol). This Web might also help them to gain a clearer sense of their intellectual, physical, sexual and spiritual selves. So this phase of my activism reflects my awareness of what is most needed if we are to build a nonviolence network that is personally and politically nurturing. I may do less campaign activism than I have done in the past, but this seems a small price to pay given that what I do instead is to work with, for example, the activists in the Nonviolent Leaders Support Groups. In these small, intimate groups, I encourage and support others to learn how to nurture themselves and to learn how to do strategically-oriented Gandhian nonviolence campaigns. The fifteen leaders are involved in six campaigns between them; a couple are using their involvement in the Leaders Groups to refocus for the future. In short, one of the ways in which I exercise my nonviolent leadership is by providing personal and political support to other nonviolent leaders, each of whom should become a far more effective leader if I do my job well. And I certainly try. Apart from the types of work described above, I am gradually resuming research and writing of a more scholarly nature, and putting energy into new initiatives. For example, together with Brendan Condon, Anita McKone and Karen Rosauer, I am doing some of the preliminary work necessary to establish an intentional nonviolence community in Melbourne. In order to do this phase of my work more effectively, I have deliberately lowered my own public (including media) profile and supported other activists to raise theirs: in this way, there are more people capable of publicly advocating nonviolence. Some of the changes in my role that are noted above are influenced by one further factor. I have played a minor role in promoting awareness of the Global Nonviolence Network (GNN) for several years now. This has included maintaining the GNN list, which is now published in several places, including the World Wide Web (on the Internet). However, with the publication of 'The Strategy of Nonviolent Defense', I anticipate a gradual increase in the level of interest in the type of principled nonviolent strategy that we have been slowly developing in Melbourne. This will require me to allow more of my personal time for solidarity work with nonviolent struggles being conducted overseas. And to ensure that an increasing number of nonviolent leaders are able to teach this philosophy, theory and strategy to those who are interested. A Personal Postscript As I reflect on what I have written above in light of my personal life during the past eighteen months, I realise that it conceals a deeper script. I put tremendous energy into the personal support of fellow activists because I am trying to create a safe space in which I can explore my own limits: physically, intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually. I want to experience the deepest forms of human communication that are possible. I have lived, for long enough, in a world that does not nurture me to 'realise myself'. And I have searched, for much of my life, for a sacred space in which I could do this. Although many spaces have part of what I want, none has it completely. So I am creating this space, with the help of others, for those who share my vision and commitment. I want to live in a community that nurtures my full development as a human being and as an activist. A space where I can be who I am, fearlessly and without apology. A space that is safe for anyone who chooses to explore the limits of themselves and the limits of nonviolence. A space that will model a way of living for many other people in the future. Given that I want all of this for myself, I have no choice but to do the personal support, education and other work that I described above. And I do it gladly. Robert J Burrowes Reference 1. For a description of these, see Jo Barter, 'Nonviolent Leadership" in Nonviolence Today #45, July/August 1995, pp. 12-13.