Nonviolent Action: A Research Guide

Author(s): Gene Sharp, and Ronald M. McCarthy

Garland, New York, 1997, pp. 720

An exhaustive, annotated, bibliography, very strong on earlier history of nonviolent action, but also including many recent nonviolent campaigns up to the mid-1990s. Part I covers cases of nonviolent action. Part II the methods and dynamics of nonviolent action and theories of conflict, power and violence. NB the index is seriously flawed (a correct version should be available on the Albert Einstein Institution website), but it is possible to trace campaigns through the list of contents.

Politica Dell’Azione Nonviolenta, Vol 1, Potere E Lotta; Vol 2, Le Tecniche; Vol 3, La Dinamica

Author(s): Gene Sharp

Edizioni Gruppo Abele (Out of print), Torino, 1985, pp. 818

Translation of Gene Sharp’s classic three-volume of nonviolent resistance, its techniques and dynamics. Volume 1 is a discussion on the nature of power where Sharp establishes his main arguments that governments are ultimately dependent on the support of the people and of intervening institutions. So cooperation can always potentially be withdrawn, both by specific institutions and by the people as a whole. He distinguishes nonviolence from passivity and submission, and provides examples to illustrate its main characteristics. In Volume 2 he describes the methods of nonviolence, which amount to almost 200 grouped into three broad categories: protest and persuasion, non-cooperation and intervention. Finally, in Volume 3 he discusses the dynamics and factors that constantly change within a society that can determine the success of nonviolent action. These can be regarded as social sources of power, leadership, negotiation and so on, alongside strategy and tactics. The third volume also discusses the retribution suffered by those involved in nonviolent struggles, the dynamics that need to be implemented for improving cohesion within nonviolent groups and offers other analytical considerations on power and its distribution within society.

Pdf versions can be found at:

Come Abbattere Un Regime. Manuale Di Liberazione Nonviolenta

Author(s): Gene Sharp

Chiarelettere, Milano, 2011, pp. 144

This work was firstly published in the 90s, following a request that Sharp received from some Burmese activists who were attempting to dismantle their dictatorial regime. It was then used in Thailand and in Serbia in the same decade. It has been translated into over 30 languages and was cited during the Arab awakening in 2011-12. Sharp discusses the nature of dictatorship and the tools and dynamics to dismantle it. He gives prominence to the importance of strategy and planning of nonviolent action and offers insights on how to establish a lasting democracy.

Civilian-Based Defense: A Post-Military Weapons System

Author(s): Gene Sharp

Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ, 1990, pp. 166

Examines theoretical case for relying on the power of society to deter and defend, rather than weaponry, cites examples of Ruhr 1923 and Czechoslovakia 1968-69 as examples of improvised civilian defence, and explores strategy and possibility of ‘transarmament’. Sharp’s 72-page Self-reliant Defense Without Bankruptcy or War, 1992, written for Soviet successor states (especially the Baltic states) can be downloaded from http://aeinstein.org.

Available online as PDF at:

http://www.aeinstein.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Civilian-Based-Defense-English.pdf

The Politics of Nonviolent Action

Parts 2 ‘The Methods of Nonviolent Action’ and Part 3 ‘Strategy and Dynamics of Nonviolent Action’

Author(s): Gene Sharp

Vol 2 & 3, 3 volumes, Porter Sargent, Boston, 1973, pp. 902

Part 1 of this now classic analysis explores the political and sociological theories underlying nonviolent resistance to develop a 'consent theory of power'; this has since been much debated. Part 1 also discusses nonviolent action as an 'active technique of struggle' and contextualizes Gandhi's contribution within a much wider historical context of major resistance movements dating from the later 18th century to 1968. Part 2 categorises and illustrates the now famous list of 198 methods, while the longest volume, Part 3, elaborates Sharp’s strategic approach.

From Dictatorship to Democracy: A Conceptual Framework for Liberation

Author(s): Gene Sharp

Housmans Bookshop, London, 2011, pp. 94

Originally published: 1993

Also published by London, Serpent’s Tail, 2012, and available from the Albert Einstein Institution (see website).

Written at the request of a Burmese dissident, this is now widely known as a succinct analysis of how nonviolent resistance can overthrow tyrannical regimes.

Available online as PDF at:

http://www.aeinstein.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/FDTD.pdf

Waging Nonviolent Struggle: 20th Century Practice and 21st Century Potential

Author(s): Gene Sharp

Porter Sargent, Boston, 2005, pp. 598

An abbreviated and slightly modified version of Sharp’s general argument in The Politics of Nonviolent Action. Includes 23 brief case studies of campaigns from the Russian Revolution of 1905 to the Serbian people power of 2000 (some written by Sharp’s collaborators: Joshua Paulson, Christopher A. Miller and Hardy Merriman).

Colombian Protests: Poverty and the Pandemic Collide with Conflict and Migration

Author(s): Genevieve Glotsky

In: The New Humanitarian, 2021

An informative survey of the protests that broke out in April 2021 and the immediate government responses. The articles suggests the demonstrations were essentially a revival of the 2019 movement that was interrupted by Covid-19, but notes differences  - for example the much greater protest in rural areas in 2021. Glotsky also situates the protests in the context of Columbia's social and economic problems, which have been exacerbated by the impact of Covid.

Available online at:

https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news-feature/2021/5/10/colombian-protests-poverty-and-the-pandemic-collide-with-conflict-and-migration

The Fall of Soeharto

Editor(s): Geoff Forrester, and R.J. May

Hurst, London, 1998, pp. 261

Produced by Australian National University Research Unit. Examines how and why Suharto was forced to step down.

See also Terence Lee, Military Cohesion and Regime Maintenance : Explaining the Role of the Military in 1989 China and 1998 Indonesia (C. II.1.c. Tiananmen, The Mass Protests of 1989) and Terence Lee, The Armed Forces and Transitions from Authoritarian Rule (E. II.8.a. Resisting Marcos, 1983-86) .

Political dialogue workshops: Deepening the peace process in Northern Ireland

Author(s): Geoffrey Cory

In: Conflict Resolution Quarterly, Vol 30, No 1, 2012, pp. 53-90

The author discusses the more than fifty residential three-day political dialogue workshops he facilitated between 1994 and 2007 at the Glencree Centre for Reconciliation near Dublin that brought together politicians from all parties in Britain and Ireland during the period of peace negotiations in Northern Ireland.

The Miners’ Strike

Author(s): Geoffrey Goodman

Pluto, London, 1985, pp. 224

Examines why the strike failed and the role of key institutions and the pickets. Includes a chronology.

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