welcome

The aim of this website is to promote understanding of and research on civil resistance - which is another term for nonviolent struggle.

contents

People Power and Protest since 1945: a bibliography on nonviolent action
- compiled by April Carter, Howard Clark and Michael Randle, with updates

Challenge to Nonviolence
- the book edited by Michael Randle of the proceedings of Bradford's Nonviolent Action Research Project (1994-99), plus three extra chapters!

Civil Resistance
- Michael Randle's 1994 book, out of print but now online - with an additional chapter.
"Governments need people", proposes Michael Randle, "more than people need governments."
Strikes, boycotts, go-slows, human barricades, sit-ins and occupations are just some of the methods available to people to assert their rights and/or undermine and overthrow arbitrary government. Michael Randle presents a broad and detailed examination of both the history and philosophy of civil resistance including its contribution to the collapse of Communist rule in East and Central Europe.


Living the Intifada
- Andrew Rigby's authoritative study of the first intifada has been unjustly neglected until now it is an out-of-print collector's item. Written before the Oslo agreements and soon after the 1991 Gulf War, its discussion of the intifada as an example of civil resistance remains an important contribution to the field. Now online for downloading chapter by chapter as pdf.

Thirty-One Hours: The Grindstone Experiment
- a report by Theodore Olson and Gordon Christiansen on a 1965 extended roleplay exercise in nonviolent civilian defence. Out of print but now online.

Unarmed Resistance: the transnational factor
- papers from the international seminar organised at the Centre for Peace and Reconciliation Studies at Coventry University in July 2006


Handbook for Nonviolent Campaigns - from War Resisters' International
Social change doesn't just happen. It's the result of the work of committed people striving for a world of justice and peace. This work gestates in groups or cells of activists, in discussions, in training sessions, in reflecting on previous experiences, in planning, in experimenting and in learning from others. Preparing ourselves for our work for social justice is key to its success.

It includes sections on:

- developing strategic nonviolent campaigns
- preparing for effective nonviolent actions (complete with checklist)
- exercises for working in nonviolence (including group dynamics and gender issues)
- stories and strategies both showing the use of nonviolent organising tools in specific settings and describing global campaigns.

There is no definitive recipe for successful nonviolent actions and campaigns. This handbook, however, is a series of resources that can inspire and support your own work, especially if you adapt the resources to your own needs and context.

You can access the online version of this handbook at http://wri-irg.org/node/3855

For ordering copies of Handbook for Nonviolent Campaigns, please go to the WRI webshop