Howard Clark (6 March 1950 – 28 November 2013) was an active

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...

who was Chair of

War Resisters' International War Resisters' International (WRI), headquartered in London, is an international anti-war organisation with members and affiliates in over 40 countries. History ''War Resisters' International'' was founded in Bilthoven, Netherlands in 1921 un ...

(WRI) from 2006 until his sudden death from a heart attack. As well as having played an important role in the WRI from the 1980s, he had been an active contributor to the British pacifist magazine, ''

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 ...

''. Howard Clark was born in

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

into a devout

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

family and his father was a minister. He was a large, energetic man who suffered from

nystagmus Nystagmus is a condition of involuntary (or voluntary, in some cases) Eye movement (sensory), eye movement. People can be born with it but more commonly acquire it in infancy or later in life. In many cases it may result in visual impairment, re ...

, otherwise known as "dancing eyes". He became a pacifist around the time he went to the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...

in 1968, where he met, and eventually married the daughter of a World War II

conscientious objector A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...

. At university he was a member of the British National Council of the Fellowship of Reconciliation. On graduation he was offered a position as co-editor of ''Peace News'', a job he held until 1976. In this time he helped to launch several campaigns and organisations including

London Greenpeace London Greenpeace was an anarchist environmentalist activist collective that existed between 1972 and 2001. They were based in London, and came to international prominence when two of their activists refused to capitulate to McDonald's ...

, the British Withdrawal from Northern Ireland Campaign, and the Campaign Against the Arms Trade. In 1976 Clark left ''Peace News'' and moved to

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

, where he became a member of the editorial collective of ''York Free Press'', an alternative newspaper. He became an active campaigner against

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced by ...

, undertaking a solo cycle tour round all the UK nuclear power sites. In 1980 he moved to

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

where he studied and worked as assistant to

Michael Randle Michael Randle (born 1933) is an English peace campaigner and researcher known for his involvement in nonviolent direct action in Britain and also for his role in helping the Soviet spy George Blake escape from a British prison. Early life Born ...

on the Alternative Defence Commission that produced the report, ''Defence without the Bomb.'' During this period he also helped write the 1983 Peace News/

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is an organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nucl ...

publication ''Preparing for nonviolent direct action''. In 1985 he joined the WRI London office. In the early 1990s he travelled regularly to the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

to support the anti-war groups that had formed there. He became impressed with the

civil resistance Civil resistance is a form of political action that relies on the use of nonviolent resistance by ordinary people to challenge a particular power, force, policy or regime. Civil resistance operates through appeals to the adversary, pressure and co ...

movement in Kosovo, which led to the publication of several works, such as ''Civil Resistance in Kosovo''. In 1997 he became an Honorary Research Fellow of the

Albert Einstein Institution The Albert Einstein Institution (AEI) is a non-profit organization specializing in the study of the methods of nonviolent resistance in conflict. It was founded by scholar Gene Sharp in 1983, and named after Albert Einstein. Until 2000, the i ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

, founded by

Gene Sharp Gene Sharp (January 21, 1928 – January 28, 2018) was an American political scientist. He was the founder of the Albert Einstein Institution, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the study of nonviolent action, and professor of po ...

. In the same year he resigned from his staff position with WRI but continued to be active with ''Peace News'' and the WRI executive. In 2006 he was elected Chair of WRI, and started teaching a postgraduate programme at a university in Spain. The following year he launched the website ''Civilresistance.info''. In 2013 Howard Clark was awarded a PhD from

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 ...

in recognition of his research and publications on Kosovo.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Howard 1950 births 2013 deaths Alumni of the University of East Anglia English pacifists British nonviolence advocates British anti–nuclear weapons activists

See also

References