By Priyanka Borpujari, December 13, 2014 for Waging Nonviolence
With parents who were Gandhian vegetarians and a grandfather who was sent to military prison during World War II for helping Jews enter Sweden, Stellan Vinthagen has nonviolent resistance in his blood.
In 1980, at the age of 16, Vinthagen was part of a campaign against nuclear power plants in Sweden. He also participated in the Plowshares movement, and in 1998 was arrested along with several others as they attempted to disarm the United Kingdom’s Trident nuclear submarine with hammers and bolt-cutters. Twice, in 2007, he was arrested and held overnight for participating in Academic Seminar Blockades of the nuclear submarine base in Faslane, Scotland, along with over 70 other academics. Most recently, Vinthagen was among those who organized Sweden’s Ship to Gaza in 2012, which led to his detention in Israel.
Aside from his activism, Vinthagen has been an educator in conflict transformation and civil disobedience since 1986, and has authored or co-authored seven books. This fall, Vinthagen was appointed to serve as the Inaugural Endowed Chair in the Study of Nonviolent Direct Action and Civil Resistance at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. I recently had a chance to speak with the longtime activist and educator about his new position, which is a first in the field of civil resistance.
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