Britain's Role in the New Cold War

Author(s): Matthew Holehouse

In: New Statesman, Vol 136, No 4860, 1996

The article discusses the role of the US National Security spy base at Menwith Hill and notes some of the local protesters, including Lindis Percy (arrested hundreds of times for breaking into bases).

See also:

Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases (CAAB), 'Synopses of the work of Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases', Peace News, 13 May 2012

https://www.peacenews.info/blog/6785/campaign-accountability-american-bases

Brief but informative summary of the work of the British group CAAB, founded in 1992. It grew out of decades of scrutiny and campaigning related to the Menwith Hill US National Security Agency base, which has been involved in intelligence gathering and had a key role in the development of the US missile defence system. The history and methods of CAAB, coordinated by Lindis Percy and Melanie Ndzinga, are outlined: tactics have ranged from use of the law to challenge the US military presence to nonviolent direct action and civil disobedience.

Available online at:

https://www.newstatesman.com/uk-politics/2007/08/missile-defence-system-russia

Blueprint for Revolution: How to Use Rice Pudding, Lego Men, and Other Nonviolent Techniques to Galvanise Communities, Overthrow Dictators, or Simply Change the World

Author(s): Srdja Popovic, and Matthew Miller

Scribe, Melbourne and London, 2015, pp. 282

Popovic, an activist against the Milosevic regime in Serbia in the 1990s, went on to find CANVAS, which has offered advice and nonviolent training to activists in former Soviet states and other parts of the world, including Egypt before Tahrir Square and Syria. The book emphasizes the role of CANVAS (but does not address criticism of its role) and foregrounds the author's own experiences and interpretation of nonviolent action. It covers many varied campaigns with examples of how to mobilize successfully and use humour and imaginative forms of protest. It also addresses how to make oppression 'backfire' and the need to persevere in one's effort after apparent success. Written for activists rather than for scholars of nonviolence. 

Protest! Wie man die Maechtigen das Fuerchten lehrt

Author(s): Srdja Popovic, and Matthew Miller

Fischer, Frankfurt am Main, 2015

Popovic and his student friends formed Otpor, that developed into the movement that forced the dictatorial President  Milosevic in Serbia to accept defeat in the 2000 election.  Since then Popovic has advised civil and democratic movements around the world . In this book he provides suggestions and strategies for organizing nonviolent protests, for example how to gain favourable media coverage and find the right allies.

Extinction Rebellion

Author(s): Matthew Taylor

In: Guardian Weekly, 2020, pp. 35-39

Taylor provides a detailed account and analysis of the origins of Extinction Rebellion (XR), its structure and decision-making processes, its major demonstrations in 2019, and its evolution. He includes the internal debate about whether to try to shut down Heathrow, the ideological divides in the movement, and the decision by one of XR’s founders, Roger Hallam, to leave XR and found a new climate campaigning group. The article concludes by discussing the implications of Covid-19 and noting the plans to disrupt parliament peacefully in September 2020.

The Black Man and the Bomb: The interconnection between racism and anti-nuclear protests in South Africa and the United States

Political Culture and National Identities

Author(s): Max Tiel

Vol Master Degree, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands, 2017

The thesis starts from the political context of the late 1970s when, despite detente, the US was developing its nuclear weapons arsenal, and apartheid South Africa emerged as a nuclear weapons state. Black campaigners against nuclear weapons emerged in both countries, and both suffered from racial discrimination, but the very different political contexts made organized opposition to nuclear policies very much harder in South Africa.  However, in both cases nuclear weapon developments were closely linked to an international context, and both movements also relied heavily on international allies.

Available online at:

http://hdl.handle.net/1887/52196

Ziviler Ungehorsam'

Author(s): Max-Emanuel Geis

In: Hilgendorf, E. und J. Juergen, Handbuch Rechtsphilosophie, pp. 480-484

The terms civil disobedience, resistance and the right or duty to resist are well known elements of political rhetoric.  The use of these terms often combines various dimensions of interpretation, such as religious, moral and ethical ideas, or philosophical and political approaches too. This book therefore seeks to analyze the term 'civil disobedience' from the perspective of the philosophy of law.

Inside Black Lives Matter’s push for power

Author(s): Maya King

In: Politico, 2020

This article explores how the protests against racial injustice and police violence brought millions to the streets under the banner of Black Lives Matter, giving the international movement significant corporate and political muscle, which US leaders used to launch a nationwide voter mobilization effort. It also briefly explores the initiatives the movement proposed towards police reform.

Available online at:

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/17/black-lives-matters-push-power-436916

The shocking rape trial that galvanised Spain's feminists - and the far right

Author(s): Meaghan Beatley

In: The Guardian, 2019

This 'long read' article provides a detailed account of the notorious rape of an 18-year-old woman at the Pamplona bull run festival in 2016 and the five man 'wolf pack' responsible.  It assesses the impact of the trial, which in April 2018 found the men guilty of 'sexual abuse', instead of rape, because the woman had not been violently coerced. The rape and the verdict sparked widespread anger among women, who demonstrated across the country, and journalist Cristina Fallaras tweeted about her own experiences of sexual violence and launched the hashtag #Cuentalo (tell your story). The five men were released from jail in June 2018 on bail whilst appealing their prison sentences. Beatley describes the impact on the feminist movement - police estimated 350,000 demonstrated in Madrid and 200,000 in Barcelona and many thousands in other cities and towns on International Women's Day 2019.  But the case has also mobilised the far right party Vox to attack feminists and to claim that the danger of violence against women comes from non-European immigrants.

Available online at:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/23/wolf-pack-case-spain-feminism-far-right-vox

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