# Constructive Program > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Constructive_Program > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Constructive_Program.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructive_Program > Source revision: 1307975374 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) '''Constructive Program''' is a term coined by [Mahatma Gandhi](/source/Mahatma_Gandhi) to describe one of the two branches of his [satyagraha](/source/satyagraha), the other being some form of [nonviolent resistance](/source/nonviolent_resistance), e.g. [civil disobedience](/source/civil_disobedience). The value of a Constructive Program in the struggle for the independence of [India](/source/India) cannot be overemphasized, as Gandhi described civil disobedience as "an aid to constructive effort."{{cite book|last=Gandhi|first=M. K.|title=Constructive Programme: Its Meaning and Place|year=1948|publisher=Navajivan Publishing House, page 1|location=Ahmedabad|url=https://www.gandhiheritageportal.org/mahatma-gandhi-books/constructive-programme-its-meaning-and-place|edition=2nd|authorlink=Mahatma Gandhi|accessdate=7 December 2013}} Gandhi wrote to his friend and supporter, [Jamnalal Bajaj](/source/Jamnalal_Bajaj), saying, "My real politics is constructive work."Nayar, Pyarelal and Sushila, (1991). ''In Gandhi's Mirror''. Delhi: Oxford University Press, page 268. Gandhi's constructive work included a campaign for people to spin their own cloth at home and mine their own salt to avoid having to buy from the British in their [anti-colonial](/source/Decolonization) struggle.{{Cite web |title=Constructive programme |url=https://www.nonviolence.wri-irg.org/en/node/40505 |access-date=2022-11-10 |website=Empowering Nonviolence |language=en}} As opposed to obstructive forms of nonviolence that focus on tearing down systems of oppression, a constructive program's focus is about creating more imaginative, just, and equal communities {{Cite web |last=Center |first=Metta |date=2006-01-01 |title=Constructive Program |url=https://archives.mettacenter.org/definitions/constructive-program/ |access-date=2022-11-10 |website=Metta Center |language=en-US}} through focusing on equality, economic self-reliance, education, and environmental efforts.{{Cite web |title=Constructive programme |url=https://www.nonviolence.wri-irg.org/en/node/40505 |access-date=2022-11-10 |website=Empowering Nonviolence |language=en}} In this way, they complement civil disobedience and other forms of [direct action](/source/direct_action) and protest by lessening reliance on the oppressor. Constructive programs can build alternative institutions so that a successful insurrection does not lead merely to a power vacuum that lets oppression return, such as in [Egypt](/source/Egypt) after the otherwise-successful overthrow of President [Hosni Mubarak](/source/Hosni_Mubarak) in 2011.Nagler, Michael, (2014). ''The Nonviolence Handbook''. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, Pages 33-38. Constructive programs can also act as models of the world that movements are working to build. For example, [prison industrial complex](/source/Prison%E2%80%93industrial_complex) abolitionists in the [United States](/source/United_States) work to end mass incarceration, but while doing that broad system-change work, some groups also focus on working on paying bail of those jailed pre-trial who are held only because they cannot afford bail. One such program is [https://www.nationalbailout.org/about/ National Bail Out], who focus on bailing out as many Black mothers and caregivers as they can and providing employment opportunities to those bailed out.{{Cite web |title=National Bail Out |url=https://www.nationalbailout.org/ |access-date=2022-11-10 |website=National Bail Out |language=en-US}} Other examples include: * [Time-based currency](/source/Time-based_currency), which is a way to exchange services instead of currency. * Implementing a community [food pantry](/source/Food_bank) or doing street feeds, such as those done by [Food Not Bombs](/source/Food_Not_Bombs). * The creation of [community gardens](/source/Community_gardening) allows for fresh, sustainable food access within the community. It also helps reduce negative environmental impacts and promotes sustainable agriculture, can create healthy food options in [Food apartheid](/source/Food_apartheid) neighborhoods and [Food swamps](/source/Food_swamps). * Creating alternative affordable housing communities, like [https://mlf.org/community-first/ Community First! Village], [Tiny Homes Detroit](/source/Tiny_Homes_Detroit), and [https://www.twincities.com/2022/06/11/st-paul-approves-six-tiny-homes-for-the-homeless-near-lake-phalen/ Settled's Sacred Settlement Program] {{Cite web |title=Mosaic Christian Community |url=https://settled.org/sacred_settlement/mosaic-christian-community/ |access-date=2022-11-17 |website=Settled |language=en-US}} * The [Free Breakfast for School Children](/source/Free_Breakfast_for_Children) program started by the [Black Panther Party](/source/Black_Panther_Party). * [Self-Managed Social Centers](/source/Self-managed_social_center) like [Metelkova](/source/Metelkova), [Warzone Collective](/source/Warzone_Collective), Participative Ljubljana Autonomous Zone,{{Cite web |last=W3bStudio |date=2022-09-05 |title=New autonomous zone established in Ljubljana |url=https://sloveniatimes.com/new-autonomous-zone-established-in-ljubljana/ |access-date=2022-11-10 |website=Slovenia Times |language=en-US}} [Firestorm Books & Coffee](/source/Firestorm_Books_%26_Coffee), and [C-Squat](/source/C-Squat), that offer community programs and often are housed in formerly abandoned buildings, claiming and beautifying spaces that had previously been vacant and decaying. * [Little Free Libraries](/source/Little_Free_Library) and [Little Free Pantries](/source/Little_Free_Pantries) * [Food cooperatives](/source/Food_cooperatives) * [Mutual Aid](/source/Mutual_aid_(organization_theory)) programs * [Seed libraries](/source/Seed_library) and [Seed swap](/source/Seed_swap) as means to share plant seeds, particularly of native and heirloom plants for ==References== {{Reflist}} * {{cite web|title=From Principles to Practice Constructive Program|url=http://www.mettacenter.org/video/from-principles-to-practice-constructive-programme/|work=Metta Center for Nonviolence|accessdate=21 March 2014}} * https://www.warresisters.org/win/win-summer-2007/constructive-program-creating-new-society-shell-old * {{cite web|title=Constructive Program|url=http://www.gandhibapu.com/templet.jsp?sno=45|work=GandhiBapu.com|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130408060843/http://www.gandhibapu.com/templet.jsp?sno=45|archivedate=8 April 2013}} * {{cite web|last=Chisholm|first=Janet|title=Constructive Program as an Instructive Model|url=http://forusa.org/blogs/for/constructive-program-instructive-model/7404|work=Fellowship for Reconciliation|accessdate=7 December 2013|date=March 29, 2010|archive-url=https://archive.today/20131207161840/http://forusa.org/blogs/for/constructive-program-instructive-model/7404|archive-date=7 December 2013|url-status=dead}} * {{YouTube|id=H4F8kJchX4I&list=SPD9592FA7CAC67331&index=1|title=Peace and Conflict Studies 164A - Fall 2006}} * [http://www.gandhiashramsabarmati.org/en/book-store/product/161-constructive-programme.html Constructive Programme] book. Category:Activism in India Category:Mahatma Gandhi --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Constructive Program](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructive_Program) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructive_Program?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.