Joan Bondurant

Joan Bondurant
Born	December 18, 1918 Great Bend, Kansas
Died	September 12, 2006 (aged 87) Tucson, Arizona[1]
Citizenship	American
Fields	Political science, civil resistance, nonviolent revolution
Institutions	University of California, Berkeley, University of the Pacific
Alma mater	University of Michigan
Influences	Mohandas K. Gandhi

Joan Valerie Bondurant (1918–2006) was an American political scientist and former spy for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War II.^[1] She is best known as the author of Conquest of Violence (1958), a book on Gandhian political philosophy.

Early life and intelligence work

Bondurant was born on 16 December 1918 in Great Bend, Kansas.^[1][2] She was gifted in the piano, and graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in music.^[1]

When WWII broke out, she learned Japanese, and was sent to work for the OSS in India, arriving in New Delhi in May, 1944.^[3]:189

Scholarly career and later life

While in India, she met Mahatma Gandhi, and became interested in his nonviolent approach to politics. Returning to the US, Bondurant obtained a doctoral degree in political science at the University of California, Berkeley (1952).^[4] She then published Conquest of Violence (1958), a widely reviewed and influential book on Gandhian politics.^[5][6][7]

Later, she took a job teaching at University of the Pacific.^[1]

Works (selected)

• Bondurant, Joan V. (1988). Conquest of violence: the Gandhian philosophy of conflict (New Revised ed.). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691022819. OCLC 17385168.
  • Bondurant, Joan V. (1958). Conquest of violence: the Gandhian philosophy of conflict (1st ed.). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. OCLC 154176074.
• Fisher, Margaret Welpley; Joan V. Bondurant (1956). The Indian experience with democratic elections. Berkeley, CA: University of California. OCLC 989639.
• Fisher, Margaret Welpley; Joan V. Bondurant (1956). Indian approaches to a socialist society. Berkeley, CA: Institute of International Studies, University of California. OCLC 845127212.
• Bondurant, Joan V. (1946). Sketches of India, with forty-one photographic illustrations. Ann Arbor, MI: Craft Press. OCLC 4579134.

See also

• Gene Sharp

References

1. Squatriglia,, Charles (21 September 2006). "Joan Bondurant -- spy, authority on Gandhi [obituary]". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
2. AncientFaces. "Joan V Bondurant (1918 - 2006)". AncientFaces. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
3. McIntosh, Elizabeth P. (1998). Sisterhood of Spies: The Women of the OSS. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 9781557505989. OCLC 38042887.
4. Bondurant, Joan V. (1952). Gandhian satyagraha and political theory: an interpretation. Berkeley, CA: Thesis (Ph. D. in Political Science)--University of California, Berkeley). OCLC 21684829.
5. Alexander, Horace (April 1960). "Untitled [review of Conquest of Violence: The Gandhian Philosophy of Conflict, by Joan V. Bondurant]". International Affairs ((Royal Institute of International Affairs) 36 (2).
6. Anonymous (1958–1959). "Untitled [review of Conquest of Violence: The Gandhian Philosophy of Conflict, by Joan V. Bondurant]". Foreign Affairs 37: 516.
7. Heimsath, Charles H. (July 1959). "Untitled [review of Conquest of Violence: The Gandhian Philosophy of Conflict, by Joan V. Bondurant]". Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 324: 197–198.

External links

• Sketches of India (autobiographical work of first India trip, with many photos)
• At Bondurant family website