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Books by Christian Bartolf

In der deutschen Sprache sind die Begriffe „Opfer“ und „Suendenbock“ doppeldeutig, was in anthrop... more In der deutschen Sprache sind die Begriffe „Opfer“ und „Suendenbock“ doppeldeutig, was in anthropologischen Theorien ueber Ursachen von Gewalt und Krieg dazu gefuehrt hat, dass Loesungen im paedagogischen und politischen Kontext unauffindbar waren, um Gewalt und Krieg zu beenden. Im Gegenteil: Gewalt und Krieg im 21. Jahrhundert sind deswegen weiterhin die „Geissel“ für die Menschheit (Charta der Vereinten Nationen, Praeambel), weil sowohl Suendenbocktheorien (zum Beispiel von Rene Girard und Hyam Maccoby) als auch Ethiken der Gewaltfreiheit (zum Beispiel von Leo Tolstoi und Mahatma Gandhi) ignoriert werden. Diese wissenschaftliche Untersuchung dient primaer dazu, für zukuenftige paedagogische Forschung kategoriale Klaerung zu ermoeglichen, und sekundaer dazu, die Rezeption der Theorien von Girard und Maccoby zu ergaenzen.
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The German language exhibits an ambiguous use of the terms “sacrifice” and “scapegoat”. For this reason, anthropological theories on causes of violence and war could not deliver effective means for education and politics to end violence and war. On the contrary: Violence and war in the twenty-first century continue to be the “scourge” of humanity (Charter of the United Nations, Preamble), because scapegoat theories (e.g. by René Girard and Hyam Maccoby) as well as nonviolent ethics (e.g. by Leo Tolstoy and Mahatma Gandhi) continue to be ignored. This scientific analysis serves primarily to facilitate categorical clarification for future research in pedagogy, and secondarily to supplement the reception of Girard and Maccoby.

Articles by Christian Bartolf

Giri, Ananta Kumar (ed.): Practical Spirituality and Human Development. Transformations in Religions and Societies. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018

Count Leo Tolstoy publicly nominated the Doukhobors (Spirit Wrestlers) to receive the first Nobel... more Count Leo Tolstoy publicly nominated the Doukhobors (Spirit Wrestlers) to receive the first Nobel Peace Prize because they would have served the cause of Peace best. This was during the times when the Doukhobors were persecuted by the Russian Tzar because of their collective burning of weapons for a New Era without War before the turn of the century (1895). The Doukhobor leader, Peter Verigin, like Mahatma Gandhi in South Africa, was deeply influenced by Tolstoy’s writing The Kingdom of God is Within You. Tolstoy applied the nonviolent resistance principle (nonviolent non-cooperation with organized injustice and violence) to the secular institutions of society and state. In his The Gospel in Brief, Tolstoy laid the foundation of an “ethical religion” of nonviolent spirituality; this tract influenced Mahatma Gandhi as well as the philosopher Wittgenstein. Ironically, Tolstoy’s absolute “nonresistance” (nonviolent resistance) against all war dated back to his soldier days on the Crime...

Giri, Ananta Kumar (ed.): Beyond Cosmopolitanism. Towards Planetary Transformations. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018

The chapter “Tolstoy and Cosmopolitanism” by Christian Bartolf—president of the society for peace... more The chapter “Tolstoy and Cosmopolitanism” by Christian Bartolf—president of the society for peace education: Gandhi Information Center (Research and Education for Nonviolence)—recollects Leo Tolstoy’s contribution for a cosmopolitan world culture by examining two literary sources the Russian writer left for us: his latest 1910 work Path of Life and two of Tolstoy’s letters to Indian citizens from the years 1907 and 1908. The conclusion is a confirmation of Tolstoy’s universal “non-resistance” philosophy (which means nonviolent non-cooperation with all institutions which are organized and with all people who act on the basis of injustice and violence).

From the editor's introduction: "Bartolf et al. summarize the confluence of the three thinkers as... more From the editor's introduction: "Bartolf et al. summarize the confluence of the three thinkers as Gandhi found a new expression for civil disobedience and passive resistance in Gujarati language. Gandhi recollected the concept of Truth in the old Indian scripts and then found the wisdom of Truth in Socrates’ fearlessness, in Henry David Thoreau’s emancipation from slavery and war, in Tolstoy’s concept of nonviolent non-cooperation, and also in Jesus’ non-resistance principle (“Resist not evil”). When Gandhi held an essay competition on “The Ethics of Passive Resistance,” he wanted to organize active nonviolent resistance on a new level. In the end, the authors raise a profound question: Will the application of Satyagraha originate a new era of a world federation without armies? Or will we—as human species—fail to find our roots and to transcend borders?"

In collaboration with the Berlin Anti-War Museum, the Gandhi-Information Center has created and p... more In collaboration with the Berlin Anti-War Museum, the Gandhi-Information Center has created and presented thirteen exhibitions on the concept of nonviolent resistance for peace education between 2008 and 2016. These exhibitions presented significant quotations from activists and thinkers of nonviolence, accompanying images against injustice, militarism and poverty: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Count Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Henry David Thoreau, John Ruskin, Carl von Ossietzky, "Leo Tolstoy and the Doukhobors," Rabindranath Tagore, Étienne de la Boétie, Kurt Tucholsky, Karl Kraus, Wolfgang Borchert, and "Paintings and Poems against War." This essay summarizes this ongoing project.

A distinct strand in the history of ideas and activism for social change challenges a problem kno... more A distinct strand in the history of ideas and activism for social change challenges a problem known as “voluntary servitude,” a notion put forth by Étienne de La Boétie: any tyrant can be toppled, any unjust system can be overcome, if only people deliberately withdraw their support, that is, if they apply the non-violent non-cooperation principle. This concept extends well into the twentieth century, beginning with Leo Tolstoy’s public statements in favour of the Russian Revolution in 1905, followed by Gustav Landauer’s Die Revolution (1907). Landauer also refers to La Boétie to highlight religious thinkers and groups—e.g. Petr Chelčický and the Doukhobors—whose practical spirituality had already influenced Tolstoy. Non-violent non-cooperation ultimately found practical expression in Kurt Eisner’s organising efforts for the Bavarian Revolution of 1918 and in Landauer’s leading role in the Munich Council Republic of April 1919. The concept also had a strong impact on the journalist and political pacifist Carl von Ossietzky (Nobel Peace Prize laureate of 1935, awarded in 1936).

Commemorating Mahatma Gandhi, 150 years after his birthday on 2nd October, 1869, we (Gandhi Infor... more Commemorating Mahatma Gandhi, 150 years after his birthday on 2nd October, 1869, we (Gandhi Information Center, Berlin, Germany ) will publish four basic essays on his nonviolent resistance in South Africa, the “Origin of Satyagraha: Emancipation from Slavery and War” – a German- Indian collaboration. Here we share with you the abstracts of these four essays:1) Thoreau – Tolstoy – Gandhi: The Origin of Satyagraha, 2) Socrates – Ruskin – Gandhi: Paradise of Conscience, 3) Garrison – Thoreau – Gandhi: Transcending Borders, 4) Gandhi – Kallenbach – Naidoo: Emancipation from the colonialist and racist system.

Editorship by Christian Bartolf

On 23 April 1957, Dr. Albert Schweitzer had his “A Declaration of Conscience” published via Radio... more On 23 April 1957, Dr. Albert Schweitzer had his “A Declaration of Conscience” published via Radio Oslo. The call for nuclear disarmament was broadcasted by many international radio stations and printed one day later in the New York Times on 24 April 1957. This exhibition was opened on 24 April 2017, sixty years later, and was on display at the Berlin Anti-War Museum’s Peace Gallery until 24 September 2017. Meanwhile the Foundation German Albert Schweitzer Center (“Stiftung Deutsches Albert-Schweitzer-Zentrum Frankfurt/Main”) has organized presentations of this Schweitzer Peace Exhibition in many public places. This exhibition is based on texts by Dr. Albert Schweitzer and addresses his commitment: 1) against any war in principle, 2) against nuclear weapons and nuclear war, 3) for the reverence for life.

Am 23. April 1957 ließ Dr. Albert Schweitzer über Radio Oslo seinen „Appell an die Menschheit“ ve... more Am 23. April 1957 ließ Dr. Albert Schweitzer über Radio Oslo seinen „Appell an die Menschheit“ verbreiten. Der Aufruf zur atomaren Abrüstung wurde von vielen weiteren Radiostationen übernommen und bereits einen Tag später, am 24. April 1957, in der „New York Times“ veröffentlicht. Diese Ausstellung wurde 60 Jahre danach angefertigt, und erstmalig vom 24. April bis zum 24. September 2017 in der Peace Gallery des Anti-Kriegs-Museums (Berlin) präsentiert. Sie wurde von der Stiftung Deutsches Albert-Schweitzer-Zentrum Frankfurt/Main als Friedensausstellung bereits an vielen Orten gezeigt. Diese Ausstellung mit Texten von Dr. Albert Schweitzer thematisiert sein Engagement: 1.) gegen den Krieg prinzipiell, 2.) gegen Atomwaffen und den Atomkrieg, 3.) für die Ehrfurcht vor dem Leben.

The exhibition "'War is sweet to those who have no experience of it ...' - Protest against Violen... more The exhibition "'War is sweet to those who have no experience of it ...' - Protest against Violence and War" is dedicated to the humanist and pacifist Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466-1536), whose anti-war writings "Dulce bellum inexpertis" (1515) and "Querela pacis" (1517) were published five hundred years ago.

Die Ausstellung „Süß ist der Krieg den Unerfahrenen …“ - Klage gegen Gewalt und Krieg ist dem Hum... more Die Ausstellung „Süß ist der Krieg den Unerfahrenen …“ - Klage gegen Gewalt und Krieg ist dem Humanisten und Pazifisten Desiderius Erasmus (ca. 1466 - 1536) gewidmet, dessen Schriften "Dulce bellum inexpertis" (1515) und "Querela pacis" (1517) vor mehr als fünfhundert Jahren veröffentlicht wurden.

Exhibitions by Christian Bartolf

Patron: Dr. Peter van den Dungen, Peace Historian, International Network of Museums for Peace

Giri, Ananta Kumar (ed.): Practical Spirituality and Human Development. Transformations in Religions and Societies. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018

Giri, Ananta Kumar (ed.): Beyond Cosmopolitanism. Towards Planetary Transformations. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018

Patron: Dr. Peter van den Dungen, Peace Historian, International Network of Museums for Peace

In collaboration with the Berlin Anti-War Museum, the Gandhi Information Center has created and p... more In collaboration with the Berlin Anti-War Museum, the Gandhi Information Center has created and presented twenty-one exhibitions on the concept of nonviolent resistance for peace education between 2008 and 2020. These exhibitions present significant messages from activists and thinkers of nonviolence and accompanying images against ecocide, injustice, militarism, poverty, violence and war (Bartolf/Miething 2017 and 2020).

ISKRA, 2024

The Doukhobors (Spirit Wrestlers), a heterogeneous group of Christians in Russia and Canada, whos... more The Doukhobors (Spirit Wrestlers), a heterogeneous group of Christians in Russia and Canada, whose anti-war stance became well known when they organized a Burning of Arms ceremony in 1895, inhabit an undisputed place in the history of the peace churches and religious denominations. We argue, however, that the connection between the Doukhobors and twentieth century pacifists such as Jane Addams (1860–1935), Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869–1948), and George Woodcock (1912–1995), deserves more attention. We then aim to raise awareness of Peter Nikolaevich Maloff (1900–1971), who authentically carried on the pacifist spirit of the group as he interacted not only with Gandhi and Woodcock, but also with Alexander Berkman (1870–1936), Dorothy Day (1897–1980), A. J. Muste (1885–1967), and Scott and Helen Nearing (1883–1983 and 1904–1995), among others. We finally highlight some instances of Doukhobor relations with the War Resisters’ International and the International Vegetarian Union in Europe during the late–1920s and early–1930s. In all this we draw out “Christ’s law of nonresistance to evil by violence” (Leo Tolstoy) that may be obscured to the public eye, not only because the number of self-identified Doukhobors has continually decreased due to the forces of assimilation, but also because “the scourge of war” (Preamble, Charter of the United Nations, 1945) continues to threaten the survival of life on Earth.

Towards a New Dharma of Peace Building, 2024

This essay deepens the understanding of the precious heritage of anti-conscription movements sinc... more This essay deepens the understanding of the precious heritage of anti-conscription movements since the time during and after the First World War. It was Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910), the famous drama and prose writer, who first condemned the legal conscription system of drafting young men that had been introduced in Tzarist Russia in the year 1875. He later described the fate and soul of a conscientious objector in his unfinished play The Light Shines in the Darkness (1890). Tolstoy's The Kingdom of God Is Within You (1893) became the most inspiring book for the young barristerat-law Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, as he testifies in his autobiography The Story of My Experiments with Truth (1925-1929).

Contemporary Critiques of Political Economy. Mapping Alternative Planetary Futures, 2024

Attempts at establishing cooperative settlement and utopian community projects in the nineteenth ... more Attempts at establishing cooperative settlement and utopian community projects in the nineteenth century help us to understand concepts of Transcendentalist thinkers and utopian socialists. These concepts, in turn, crystallized in communal land ownership based on the principles of equality, simple living, and trusteeship. We aim to demonstrate how certain farming community examples from English and North American history became relevant for the social and political thought of their contemporaries such as Thoreau, Tolstoy, Ruskin, Gandhi, and Kumarappa.

Russian Journal of Church History, 2023

Gandhi Marg Quarterly, 2023

This paper looks at the emancipatory potential of the Gandhian concept of Sarvodaya, drawing on t... more This paper looks at the emancipatory potential of the Gandhian concept of Sarvodaya, drawing on the insights from Ruskin and Tolstoy. It also discusses some associated concepts like Swadeshi and Bread Labour. Before Sarvodaya was woven into an all-encompassing constructive programme with the support of Kumarappa and Vinoba Bhave, Gandhi created the spinning wheel (charka) movement for homespun cotton yarn (khadi) in the 1920s. Gandhi recollected Bondaref and Tolstoy's concept of Bread Labour in detail and compared it with the ancient Indian notion of sacrifice (yajna).

Leo Tolstoi (1828–1910) kritisierte fundamental das Prinzip der Vergeltung durch Gewalt und Zwang... more Leo Tolstoi (1828–1910) kritisierte fundamental das Prinzip der Vergeltung durch Gewalt und Zwang. Seine Ablehnung von Krieg, Sklaverei und der Talionsregel ist untrennbar verbunden mit seiner Kritik an Militär, Recht und Staat sowie am Besitzdenken in Bezug auf Landeigentum bzw. dem Gebrauch von jeglichem Kapital zur Ausbeutung anderer. Mit seiner Philosophie begründete der „religiöse Anarchist“ Tolstoi wesentlich die Theorie der organisierten, gewaltfreien Nicht-Zusammenarbeit (Non-Kooperation) und beeinflusste nicht allein M. K. Gandhi und Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., sondern auch Gustav Landauer, Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis, Pierre Ramus, Ernst Friedrich und Emma Goldman. In dem erfolgreichen Versuch, die Duchoborzen („Geisteskämpfer“) als Gruppe vor der physischen Vernichtung zu bewahren, arbeitete Tolstoi mit Peter Kropotkin zusammen.

Der britisch-kanadische Schriftsteller George Woodcock (1912-1995) war einer der international wi... more Der britisch-kanadische Schriftsteller George Woodcock (1912-1995) war einer der international wirkmächtigsten Historiker des Anarchismus. Als Befürworter des Zivilen Ungehorsams nach Henry David Thoreau folgte er den Prinzipien von Leo Tolstoi, M.K. Gandhi und Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Als Pazifist verwarf er die "Torheit" revolutionärer Gewalt und betonte demgegenüber die notwendige Übereinstimmung von Zielen und Mitteln zur Vorbeugung eines neuen Autoritarismus.

Ernst Friedrich (1894-1967) war der Gründer des weltweit ersten "Anti-Kriegsmuseums" und Autor de... more Ernst Friedrich (1894-1967) war der Gründer des weltweit ersten "Anti-Kriegsmuseums" und Autor des Klassikers "Krieg dem Kriege!" in den 1920er-Jahren. Als gewaltfreier Anarchist steht Friedrich in der Tradition von Tolstoi und Landauer und im Dissens zu links-und rechtsideologischen Apologien der Gewaltanwendung.