The Plowshares movement consists of people around the world working nonviolently for disarmament. Founded in the USA in 1980, the movement came to Sweden in the mid 80`s.
The military armaments is probably the greatest obstacle for justice in the world. But what does ”plowshare” have to do with that? A plowshare is used for agriculture. When swords are turned into plowshares, life threatening weapons are transformed into something useful, life affirming. Justice and peace in the world becomes possible.
Although the name comes from the Hebrew scripture (Is 2:4), the Plowshares movement is not specifically a religious movement. It includes people of different faiths and philosophies. Actually, in most Plowshares groups the members adhere to a range of different faiths or philosophies, such as christian, atheist, new age, feminist, leftist etc.
A Plowshares action is a form of civil disobedience where ordinary people symbolically, yet concretely, disarm weapons. The action is always done peacefully and accountibly. The purpose is to call attention to the immorality and danger of war preparations and to initiate a public dialogue to reach agreements about disarmament.