Teaching Rebellion

A series of interviews with participants that largely tends towards the voices of Christians, artists, NGOs, and others who might be more palatable to a broad US audience, the book can be faulted for overlooking the very rich conflicts that existed within the rebellion itself, for uncritically presenting (within a relativistic framework of a tapestry of voices) certain attempts to whitewash the movement as nonviolent, and for neglecting the more combative aspects of the rebellion. Nonetheless, the book provides a very good view of the creative aspect of the rebellion, and a fair reader not interested in cherry-picking will have to conclude that self-defense played a central role in the rebellion.

• Peter Gelderloos