Foreign thinker
Michael N. Nagler
Michael N. NaglerPeace and Nonviolence StudiesAmericanb. 1937
“Nonviolence is not the recourse of the weak but actually calls for an uncommon kind of strength; it is not a refraining from something but the engaging of a positive force.”
Life and Thought
Michael N. Nagler is Professor Emeritus of Classics and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Berkeley, and a prominent scholar of peace studies and nonviolence. He co-founded one of the earliest Peace and Conflict Studies programs in the United States and founded the Metta Center for Nonviolence. His works, including The Nonviolence Handbook and The Search for a Nonviolent Future, explore the theory and practice of nonviolent resistance.
Michael N. Nagler was born on January 20, 1937. He studied English literature and languages at New York University before pursuing graduate studies in comparative literature at the University of California, where he earned his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. He later became a professor of Classics and Comparative Literature at UC Berkeley.
Nagler is regarded as an important figure in the expansion of peace and conflict studies at American universities. He co-founded one of the earliest Peace and Conflict Studies programs in the United States and established the Metta Center for Nonviolence in 1981. The center focuses on teaching the theory, strategy, and culture of nonviolence.
Nagler’s thought and activism have been deeply influenced by the Gandhian tradition, active nonviolence, and the relationship between spirituality and social action. In his writings and teaching, he emphasizes that nonviolence is not merely a passive abstention from violence, but an active force for personal, social, and political transformation.
His best-known works include The Search for a Nonviolent Future, The Nonviolence Handbook, and The Third Harmony. In recognition of his efforts to promote Gandhian values outside India, Nagler received the Jamnalal Bajaj International Award in 2007.