Michael Nagler is Professor Emeritus at UC Berkeley, where he founded the Peace and Conflict Studies Programme and taught courses on non-violence. Nagler was a member of the Free Speech Movement and founder of the Metta Centre for Nonviolence. He stands on the shoulders of Gandhi and Dr Martin Luther King, who saw nonviolence not merely as a strategy for protest, but as a fundamentally different way of looking at humanity and society. In his book and the eponymous documentary The Third Harmony, Nagler brings together many insights and links them to the question of what story we actually believe about ourselves and the world .
The stories we tell ourselves
When I read Michael Nagler’s The Third Harmony, a quote attributed to Einstein came to mind: “We cannot solve problems with the same level of consciousness that created them.” Whether Einstein actually said it in exactly those words is open to question, but it captures well what Michael Nagler is trying to tell us.
We live in a time in which the problems are piling up. Climate change, wars, growing inequality, polarisation, loneliness and a declining trust in institutions. We often treat these problems as separate issues that each require their own solution to be found. For climate change we need new technology , for polarisation better politics, for loneliness more social connection and for war diplomacy. But what if these problems are more deeply interconnected than we think? What if they all stem from the same underlying narrative about who we are and how the world works?
That is the question that Michael Nagler poses in The Third Harmony. According to him, we find ourselves in the midst of a shift in worldview, comparable to previous major paradigm shifts in the history. For centuries people assumed that the Earth was the centre of the universe. That seemed logical; everything we saw confirmed it. It was only then that the contradictions began to pile up, space emerged for a new perspective. In hindsight such a turnaround seems obvious, but for the people who were right in the thick of it at the time saw their worldview turned up-side-down.
Nagler argues that we are currently in a similar transition. The narrative that has largely shaped modern society tells us that we are separate individuals in a material universe. Life is essentially a struggle for scarce resources, success is measured by possessions and status, and security arises from being stronger than our competitors. That narrative has brought us much. It has enabled scientific progress and created unprecedented material prosperity. At the same time, its limitations are becoming increasingly visible. We are discovering that endless economic growth clashes with the limits of the planet. We see that more consumption does not automatically lead to more happiness. And despite all the opportunities to be connected, many people feel lonelier than ever.
According to Nagler, these are not coincidental problems. They stem from a view of humanity based on separation. When we see ourselves as isolated individuals who must look after ourselves first and foremost, competition becomes the norm. When we view nature as a collection of raw materials, depletion becomes inevitable. When we believe that security comes from exercising power over others, conflicts will continue to recur.
That is also why non-violence is much more than just being nice or avoiding conflict. In an earlier blog, I wrote that nonviolence represents a third way between fighting and fleeing: a way of resisting injustice without losing sight of the other person’s humanity. For Nagler, it is precisely this third way that forms an essential part of the new narrative that is emerging.
A new story about being human
Therefore, according to him, real change does not begin with policy, technology, or economic reforms, but with a different narrative. A narrative in which interconnectedness is central. That idea may sound idealistic, but Nagler is not alone in this. In recent years, I have encountered the same thought in a variety of different disciplines. The biologist Frans de Waal showed that empathy and cooperation are not a thin veneer of civilization over a fundamentally selfish nature, but are actually deeply rooted in humans and animals. In “Humankind: A Hopeful History,” Rutger Bregman describes how our history is characterized by cooperation much more than we often think. In many indigenous cultures, the interdependence between humans, communities, and nature has formed the starting point for centuries, but its limitations are becoming increasingly visible. We are discovering that endless economic growth clashes with the limits of the planet. We see that more consumption does not automatically lead to more happiness. And despite all the opportunities to be connected, many people feel lonelier than ever.
Nagler ultimately brings everything back to a personal question. For if the old story of separation is not only found in our institutions but also within ourselves, how do we change that then?
The Third Harmony
This is what Nagler means by the Third Harmony. The first harmony is about our relationship with the universe. The second is about our relationship with the earth and the natural world. The third harmony is about our relationship with ourselves. According to Nagler we cannot create a culture of peace as long as we internally continue to operate from a place of fear, shame, hostility and a sense of inadequacy. The way in which we treat ourselves, ultimately seeps into our relationships, our organisations and our society.
That idea is consistent with what Thomas d’Ansembourg describes in his book Peace can be learned. We talk often about peace as if it were something that is brought about by politicians, diplomats or international treaties. But peace begins also in the way in which we deal with our own fear, anger and helplessness. The movement towards a more peaceful society is therefore at the same time a movement towards within.
From the perspective of emotion regulation, that actually makes perfect sense, as I mentioned earlier. When our threat detection system is constantly active, we see more quickly threats, we react more quickly defensively and it becomes more difficult to remain curious and empathetic. The third harmony therefore requires not only a different worldview, but also to strengthen our care system: the part of us that is connected to safety, compassion and trust. Only when we feel sufficiently safe , does there space for connection, creativity and collaboration arise.
Nonviolence as a way of life
Nagler describes nonviolence more as a way of life than than a political strategy. A daily exercise in the development of what he regards as one of the most fundamental human capacities: the capacity to choose connection over violence.
That exercise requires mindfulness. It requires us to take a critical look at the stories we consume and the fear-mongering we feed on every day. It requires time for reflection, silence or meditation. And it requires us to invest in relationships, particularly at a time when individualism is often presented as the highest good.
In the book, Nagler describes a number of practical ways to develop that inner harmony. These include reducing exposure to violence and cynicism in the media; learning more about nonviolence and its history; and engaging in a spiritual practice such as meditation or contemplation. Investing in relationships and community. And above all: actively contributing to something greater than yourself. Not because you can change the world on your own, but because culture ultimately arises from millions of small choices made by ordinary people.
Living a different story
What I also find valuable is that Nagler non-violence does not only views as a personal practice, but also as a social strategy. He thus aligns with the thinking of activist Joanna Macy, who argues that real change requires three things: stopping the greatest harm to people and the planet, the building of new systems and institutions, and the changing of the culture.
Those three belong together. It makes little sense to dream of a new world whilst dream when we meanwhile continue to contribute to the systems that the old maintain. Also author Anand Giridharadas sets this clearly outlines in his book Winners Take All the role role of the super-rich as so-called benefactors.
In his book and film The Third Harmony, Michael Nagler offers us a perspective in which personal development and social change are not separate processes, but two sides of the same movement. The question, then, is not only how we change the world, but also which narrative we nurture anew every day through the way we think, speak and act. A non-violent society does not begin with great leaders or historic events. It begins the moment ordinary people decide to live a different story. A story in which connection is more important than separation, in which cooperation proves more powerful than competition, and in which peace is not the end point of change, but rather the starting point.
Sources
Podcast: Nonviolent radio
Image: Asylum seekers from the whole country dining together with Amsterdam residents at long tables
Book: The Third Harmony, Michael N Nagler
Documentary: The Third Harmony