April Carter (22 November 1937 – 16 August 2022) was a British peace activist. She was a political lecturer at the universities of

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. It began admitting men in 1994. The colle ...

and

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, and was a Fellow at the

Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) is an international institute based in Stockholm, Sweden. It was founded in 1966 and provides data, analysis and recommendations for armed conflict, military expenditure and arms trade a ...

from 1985 to 1987. She was an Honorary Research Fellow of the Centre for Peace and Reconciliation Studies,

Coventry University Coventry University is a Public university, public research university in Coventry, England. The origins of Coventry University can be linked to the Coventry School of Art and Design, Coventry School of Design in 1843. It was known as Lancheste ...

, and a 'senior editor' on the international editorial board for the ''International Encyclopedia of Peace'' to be published by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

(New York). April Carter was active in the nuclear disarmament movement in Britain in the late 1950s and early 1960s, becoming Secretary of the Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War in May 1958 (just after it had organised the first

Aldermaston March The Aldermaston marches were anti-nuclear weapons demonstrations in the 1950s and 1960s, taking place on Easter weekend between the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston in Berkshire, England, and London, over a distance of fifty- ...

), and was involved in early

civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active and professed refusal of a citizenship, citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders, or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be cal ...

at nuclear missile bases. In 1961 she was European coordinator for the San Francisco to Moscow March organised by the US Committee for Nonviolent Action, and 1961–62 was an assistant editor at the international pacifist weekly ''

Peace News ''Peace News'' (''PN'') is a pacifist magazine first published on 6 June 1936 to serve the peace movement in the United Kingdom. From later in 1936 to April 1961 it was the official paper of the Peace Pledge Union (PPU), and from 1990 to 2004 ...

''. During the revived

nuclear disarmament Nuclear disarmament is the act of reducing or eliminating nuclear weapons. Its end state can also be a nuclear-weapons-free world, in which nuclear weapons are completely eliminated. The term ''denuclearization'' is also used to describe the pro ...

movement of the 1980s she was a member of the

Alternative Defence Commission Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * Alternative comics, or independent comics are an alternative to mainstream superh ...

, which published an analysis of non-nuclear defence options for Britain in ''

Defence Without the Bomb Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

'' (Taylor and Francis, 1983). Carter died on 16 August 2022, at the age of 84.

Major works

*''The Political Theory of Anarchism'' (Harper & Row, 1971) *''Authority and Democracy'' (Routledge & Kegan Paul PLC, 1979) *''Politics of Women's Rights'' (Longman, 1988) *''Success and Failure in Arms Control Negotiations'' (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute monographs) (Oxford University Press, 1989) *''Peace Movements'' (Longman, 1992) *''The Political Theory of Global Citizenship'' (

Routledge Routledge ( ) is a British multinational corporation, multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, academic journals, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanit ...

, 2001 and 2006 in paperback). & *''Direct Action and Democracy Today'' (Polity Press, 2005) *''People Power and Political Change: Key Issues and Concepts'' (Routledge 2012) *''A Guide to Civil Resistance: Volume one: A Bibliography of People Power and Nonviolent Protest'' (Green Print, 2013) *''A Guide to Civil Resistance: Volume two: A Bibliography of Social Movements and Nonviolent Action'' (Green Print, 2015)

References

1937 births 2022 deaths Fellows of Somerville College, Oxford British nonviolence advocates British anti–nuclear weapons activists English female criminals Academics of Coventry University {{Anarchist-stub

Major works

See also

References