This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This web portal and all the products published on it reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
The "Mouvement pour une Alternative Non-violente" (MAN) was founded in 1974 and has as aims the promotion of theoretical reflection on nonviolence as well concrete nonviolent action from the local to the international level. MAN brings together nonviolent activists in France in 19 local groups. The MAN groups work on a variety of topics, such as Civil Peace Intervention (“ICP” in French), social conflicts in France, peace education, nuclear weapons, the armament economy, etc. The groups' initiatives and actions are coordinated by the national office, based in Paris. Besides the support to local groups, the MAN national office also coordinates the French “Comité ICP” for the promotion of Nonviolent Third Party Intervention both to a wider public and to political institutions. The "Comité ICP" includes among its members organisations that send volunteers on international civilian peacekeeping and peacebuilding missions. MAN/Comité ICP is the French member organisation Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP) and actively participating in the European Network for Civil Peace Services (EN.CPS).
Info on courses, trainings, events
The “Comité ICP” is offering training courses for peace volunteers that are divided into 3 one-week modules. The next training course (module 1: “Individual attitudes in a conflict situation”) will take place from 17 to 22 April 2006 in a location close to Paris. International participants are welcome and can receive further information under comiteicp@free.fr.
The French coordinators of the “International Decade for the promotion of a Culture of Nonviolence and Peace” are organising the second edition of the “Salon des Initiatives de Paix”, a fair of all different peace initiatives in France. The event will take place in Paris from 2 to 4 June 2006. MAN and the Comité ICP will be present to promote our activities. More information, also available in English language, can be found under www.salon-initiativesdepaix.org . International partners and guests are welcome and should contact us at comiteicp@free.fr .
Publications
Jean-Marie Muller, spokesperson of MAN, has published last year a comprehensive dictionary (407 pages) on the key terms and concepts of nonviolence theory and philosophy. You can find more information about the “Dictionaire de la Non-violence” (in French only) on www.non-violence-mp.org/la nonviolence_fichiers/derniersouvrages.htm and order copies at a prize of 12 Euros from man.lyon@free.fr.
French readers might find it interesting to have a look at the webpages of the following journals on Nonviolence that are closely associated with MAN:
Alternatives Non-violents - www.irnc.org/ANV/DerniersNumeros/index.htm
Non-violence Actualité - www.nonviolence-actualite.org
Other activities
MAN continues its campaign for an “International Civil Intervention Force for Israel-Palestine”. To put the campaign at a new stage, closer cooperation with Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP) Europe and the NP Middle-East region is planned. Man also participates in a training programme for Iraqi and Palestinian peace activists, lead by our Catalan partner NOVA. We welcome further cooperation and synergies with other European organisations that are working on Nonviolent Third Party Intervention in the Middle-East region. Your contact address for this topic is interventioncivile@free.fr.
From 17 to 18 March MAN Lyon is organising a two-day-event on the topic of “Civil Disobedience” in Lyon. The event will include presentations and reflection on this form of nonviolent protest as well as contributions from activist groups that are currently putting it into practice. For more information on the event (in French only) see www.desobeissancecivile.org. If you happen to be in the region and you would like to participate, get directly in contact with man.lyon@free.fr.