Peter Gelderloos is an American anarchist author known for his 2005 book, How Nonviolence Protects the State.
Gelderloos was arrested in 2001 while attending a protest at the Georgia-based Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (formerly known as School of the Americas), a controversial school that trains Central and South American soldiers and police.[1] He was sentenced in 2002 to six months in prison.
In How Nonviolence Protects the State Gelderloos sets out to "[debunk] the notion that non-violent activism is the only acceptable and effective method of struggle."[2] The resulting work has been frequently compared to Ward Churchill's Pacifism as Pathology.[3]
In May 2007, Gelderloos was arrested in Spain and charged with public disorder and illegal demonstration during a squatters' protest. He faced between three and six years of imprisonment. Police accused Gelderloos of playing a leadership role within the protest - a claim which he calls "fairly absurd." His family contended that it would not be possible for him to receive a fair trial in Spain, citing a judge's assertion that "the United States would put him in Guantanamo for what he had done."[4] After international pressure, the charges were reduced. In March 2009, the charges were found to be without merit, and Gelderloos and his codefendant were acquitted. [5]
In 2010 Gelderloos published Anarchy Works, answering some of the most common questions about anarchism, and To Get to the Other Side, a travel narrative focused on the anarchist movements in Europe.
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