World Peace Brigade Collected Records

The World Peace Brigade--sometimes called the World Peace Brigade for Nonviolent Action--developed from a preliminary conference held in late December 1961 in Beirut, Lebanon. Sponsors included Bertrand Russell, Martin Buber, Danilo Dolci, and Vinoba Bhave. A.J. Muste was a member of the North American delegation. The concept of a peace brigade comes from the Indian peace movement, Shanti Sena. The Brigade was composed of volunteers trained in the concepts of nonviolence as a powerful tool in areas of internal and international conflict. Methods used were social reconstruction, technical assistance, nonviolent persuasion, nonviolent direct action and civil disobedience. Much of the work of the volunteers took place within emerging African nations in 1962-1963.