Author to Discuss “César Chávez and the Common Sense of Nonviolence”

José-Antonio Orosco will discusses and sign his book “César Chávez and the Common Sense of Nonviolence" at these bookstores:

• 3:00 PM Saturday, July 12, at , 4022 Rio Grande NW, Albq.
• 7:00 PM Saturday, July 12, at Page One, 11018 Montgomery NE, Albq.
• 5:00 PM Monday, July 14, at Garcia Street Books, 376 Garcia St., Santa Fe

The publisher, the University of New Mexico Press, provides this synopsis:

César Chávez has long been heralded for his personal practice of nonviolent resistance in struggles against social, racial, and labor injustices. However, the works of Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. have long overshadowed Chávez's contributions to the theory of nonviolence. José-Antonio Orosco seeks to elevate Chávez as an original thinker, providing an analysis of what Chávez called "the common sense of nonviolence." By engaging Chávez in dialogue with a variety of political theorists and philosophers, Orosco demonstrates how Chávez developed distinct ideas about nonviolent theory that are timely for dealing with today's social and political issues, including racism, sexism, immigration, globalization, and political violence.

David Steinberg interviewed the author in the Albuquerque Journal. Excerpt:

Most people know that César Chávez was a pioneer organizer of farm workers and a civil rights activist, but don't consider him a thinker. José-Antonio Orosco, an associate professor of philosophy at Oregon State University, wants the public to get a fuller picture of the man.

“I call him a community intellectual, and not a traditional one,” Orosco said in a phone interview. “He learned about social problems from the ground up and learned to motivate people, that they are the ones with power. If he gets them to understand their own power, they can accomplish so many social reforms,” said Orosco, who is a graduate of Albuquerque's West Mesa High School.

... Orosco said Chávez described himself as having a “common sense of nonviolence.” In reading Chávez's speeches and his writings in farm workers' newletters, Orosco concluded that he had original thoughts about nonviolence, about the causes of poverty and conflict, and what democracy means. “I became convinced that he is a philosopher of nonviolence,” he said. “If we look at history, Chávez said, not much is accomplished with violence.”

Orosco said Chávez's genius was his understanding of the political and economic forces in society, the obstacles that keep people poor. Chávez, he said, was fascinated with the nonviolent philosophies of Mohandas Gandhi and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.   

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