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Primarily an account of the movement of conscientious objection and ‘insumision’ in Spain, but including analysis and proposals. It was written by university teachers who joined the movement and assisted from inside. Published in the final stage of the movement, when the end of conscription was announced. but there were still objectors jailed in military prisons.
Al-Taher begins by observing that, unlike in the beginning of the Syrian Spring 2011-12, the international and western press no longer reported on peaceful protests in Syria. The paper discusses two possible explanations: a problem of information (either a lack of information or an excess of news), or the absence of nonviolent protests in the region. The author refutes the second thesis, arguing that despite the ongoing bloody civil war in Syria, large parts of the society nevertheless participate in peaceful protests.
This special issue of the magazine Alternatives Non-Violentes, collects papers presented at a landmark conference organized at the French National Assembly in October 2001 on civil peace intervention.
This special double issue of the review Alternatives Non-Violentes presents numerous examples of nonviolent struggles and of leading figures in the field of nonviolence that have marked the 20th century.
(First edition was printed illegally in 1973 during the Franco dictatorship.)
This is a compilation of texts on nonviolent alternatives to accepting unjust rule, starting from the classics, e.g. Thoreau, Tolstoy, Gandhi, Gregg and Ramamurti, and providing translations of important contemporary European authors, such as Muller, Ebert, Colbere or Frognier. The second appendix of the second edition offers a summary of the nonviolent movement in Spain up to 1995.
Arnold, a Protestant cleric, explores the ideas of three protagonists of nonviolent resistance (Goss-Mayr, Gandhi and de Ligt) on how nonviolent action ‘works’. The author, who does not use the German translation of ‘nonviolence’ but his own term ‘the power of good’, argues that, regardless of the origin and religion of the practitioners, the effects of nonviolence are basically the same. This volume – the fourth in a series – is a summary of his conclusions from three more detailed case studies, each published as a separate book, and derives from a dissertation undertaken late in the author’s life.
One in a series of four books analysing how nonviolent resistance works, focusing on Gandhi. [See comments under Arnold in section above.]
Presents an 'ideal type' of nonviolence (the power of good) which synthesizes the approaches developed by the Catholic Hildegard Goss-Mayr, the Hindu Gandhi and the atheist de Ligt. Attempts to describe the common core of the various traditions of nonviolence: the conception of how nonviolent action typically works. Differentiates between nonviolence as a pattern of interaction, a model of behaviour and a human potential. 'The power of good' chiefly has an impact through action by committed individuals, 'contagion' and the evolution of both in mass noncooperation.
The article deals with the Gezi Park protests against the demolition of a public park in Istanbul in May 2013, which turned into nationwide protests against the government. One source of these protests can be located in the conservative-religious neo-liberalism of the ruling AKP. The fundamental thesis of the authors defines the protests as an expression of a search for new spheres and forms of participatory politics, as an alternative to institutional structures.
Sruti Bala comes from the state of Tamil Nadu in southern India. In her dissertation on nonviolent protest she discusses some significant elements of nonviolent resistance such as 'action', 'play' and display'. She also tries to define certain consequences of nonviolent protest for political identity. Finally, these conclusions are related to the ideas of Gandhi and Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (the 'Frontier Gandhi').
Balducci examines fundamental ethical questions from a global perspective following the fall of the Berlin Wall, the end of Cold War and the attack on the U.S. on 11th September 2001. His analysis draws upon Catholicism and the necessity of pursuing a secular, nonviolent renovation that – as he argues - all religions must face.
The subject of this article is the right to resistance, and in particular whether this right can exist within a liberal and democratic order, which emphasizes protection of civil rights, freedom of speech and the right to public criticism and the right to form an opposition.
Part 1 of a two part series. Part 2 is available at http://www.opendemocracy.net/civilresistance/maciej-bartkowski-mohja-kahf/syrian-resistance-tale-of-two-struggles-part-2
This study of the Maidan Revolution analyzes what Bartkowsky calls nonviolent resistance in violence-loaded situations. He argues that the major use of force and violence by the regime was not a sign of strength, but of the fundamental weakening of the regime and seemed to be a desperate attempt to avert its threatened defeat. Therefore Janukowytsch's fall was preceded by three months of mobilization and civil resistance that undermined the already weak defences of the regime.
Nonviolent resistance is a mass phenomenon that can challenge corrupt and autocratic regimes. This form of resistance and its symbiotic relationship to cities is not at all new: the plebeians in the Roman Republic used this kind of struggle when they abandoned the city until their demands were met. But how do modern cities as conflict spaces favour nonviolent resistance? The authors systematically analyse the relationship between the urban sphere and nonviolent resistance.
A compilation of the voices and experiences of seven objectors in prison, as well as of their relatives and supporting groups, in the context of the first years of the campaign of disobedience to military service in Spain. This book arose out of the need to train activists to face jail.
Report of conference of that title bringing together nonviolent activists from different campaigns and different generations.
published in English, Spanish and Serbian since 1994.
One of the best conceptualizations of civilian-based defence, enriched with examples of civil resistance.
MA dissertation by grandson of leader of village’s resistance to incorporation into Israel.
This essay by leading politician and activist Bové and journalist Luneau traces the world history of civil disobedience and explains its current relevance.
Numerous protests took place round the world contemporaneously with the global economic crisis, but the left in Europe as a whole failed to organize. This gap should be filled by Blockupy, a European network of activists composed of trade unionists, political parties and different social movements. The article traces the history of this organization and assesses how far Blockupy has the power to create a new left movement in Germany.
based on interviews with 60 people and includes photos and map of Belgrade.
There have been frequent examples of civil disobedience in Germany in recent years. Protests in cities and regions such as Heiligendamm, Dresden, Stuttgart, Wendland and Frankfurt represent a kind of renaissance of civil resistance. This book examines the sources of legitimation and points of dispute, and also notes different definitions of civil disobedience and how these are discussed in the literature. Therefore this book draws on the ideas and experience of various authors.
On different peace brigade projects, including the Gandhian-inspired Shanti Sena.
Part 1, Part 2 is available at http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/72931.
This is a historical review of nonviolent ideas and movements from the first recorded strike in ancient Egypt to the 21st century. It connects the concepts of revolution and transformatión in each era with the historical movements which often inspired them. There are chapters on Tolstoy, Gandhi and other theorists of nonviolent action, e.g. Bart de Ligt and Gene Sharp, as well as chapters on conscientious objection, nonviolent resistance to Hitler and opposition to other dictatorships round the world, but no detailed examples after the 1960s. Instead it focuses on different approaches to nonviolent action, from the ‘pragmatic’ approaches of Sharp and Ackerman to the principled commitment to nonviolence of Burrowes, Martin and Lakey.
PeaceDirect has promoted twinning between British groups and those working for peace in the midst of conflict, such as in Cali, Colombia.
Largely based on the author’s PhD thesis, this book analyses three historical approaches to civil disobedience, from conservatives and liberal philosophies to the applied theory of disobedience derived from Gandhi and Martin Luther King.
Largely based on the author’s PhD thesis, this book analyses three historical approaches to civil disobedience, from conservative and liberal philosophies to the applied theory of disobedience derived from Gandhi and Martin Luther King.
Describes how the Christian Peacemaker Teams function, the roles they play and their impact - especially in Hebron. One 'ppt' presentation and four images
This book summarizes the long term work of the two person collective Utopía Contagiosa on defense alternatives from an antimilitarist point of view. The model of military defense is challenged from a nonviolence- cooperation paradigm which conflicts with the hegemonic paradigm of domination and violence. The authors then propose transarmament, suggesting criteria, methodological orientations and a two-phase implementation, together with several proposals for sectorial transarmament for debate.
This document was developed by the leaders of the Otpor movement, which inspired civil resistance against Milosevic in Serbia in the 1990s. It examines a strategic approach to nonviolent struggle presented in four thematic sections: definition and analysis of the framework of nonviolent struggle; elaboration and planning of the struggle; the techniques of nonviolent combat; and measures to resist repression.
This essay updates Thoreau’s thought in the light of later additions by academics and activists. Starting from Thoreau’s own context, and using extracts from his classic text and other unpublished fragments available in Spanish, the author recreates Thoreau’s thinking for today.
This is a key book about the Colombian peace communities and the civil resistance of indigenous peoples, Afro Americans and peasants in the context of a bloody civil war. It focuses in particular on the civil resistance of the Nasa people (Paez) in the Cauca department. This is not only the strongest movement (with their Indigenous Guard able to confront guerrillas, the army and paramilitaries), but also the one which has lasted longest and influenced the others. In addition there are studies of the Asociacíon Campesina Integral del Atrato (ACIA), Asociación de Trabajadores Campesinos de Carare (ATCC), Comunidad de Paz de San José de Apartadó and the Asamblea Municipal Constituyente de Tarso.
Translation from French of ‘The Power of the Peaceful’, by well known nonviolent activist and theorist who drew inspiration from Gandhi.
Originally written in 1974, this essay explores the philosophy and strategy of nonviolence inspired by the author’s meeting with Gandhi in 1937, and applies it to environmental and solidarity struggles as well as in the daily life of the Arch communities, which he founded across France.
(Article originally published in the Nation 23 December 1961.)
including contributions from Valerie Bunce and Sharon Wolchik, Mark Beissinger, Charles Fairbanks, Vitali Silitksy and Martin Dimitrou, with reply by Lucan Way
This article is a literature review examining the latest English literature on nonviolent resistance. It discusses different types of protest and delineates the characteristics of nonviolent resistance movements, and then focuses on explanations for the success of such movements. Last but not least, the authors discuss possible new avenues for research.
On the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi’s 140th birthday the authors offer a guide to understanding Gandhi’s personality and life through different chapters in his life, for example the role of his family, his youth and the long period in South Africa.
This special number of Diogene (international review of the human sciences) presents diverse perspectives on different themes relating to nonviolence: the language of nonviolence; the links between nonviolence and religion; and between nonviolence and civil resistance. It also considers the future of nonviolence.
Tells the story of the insumisos from the point of view of one of the mothers. It begins with a summary of the historical process and then introduces a personal narrative of the experience of trials and jail, and the struggle of the conscientious objectors’ mothers association. Includes press articles and pictures which illustrate each element of the story.
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the activities of international volunteers working with Palestinians to empower them in their nonviolent struggle against the Israeli occupation.
Martine Dufour is a member of the Movement for a Non-violent Alternative. She took part in several civil missions to Kosovo between 1993 and 2011. This book relates a pioneering experiment in civil intervention and includes elements of analysis, appreciation and assesment of the Civil Peace Intervention in a post-conflict area.
- Vol. 1: Historische Erfahrungen und Grundzuege der Strategie, 1981, 193pp;
- Vol. 2. Formen und Bedingungen des Zivilen Widerstands, 1981, 194 pp.
Ebert has researched important examples of earlier nonviolent resistance, e.g. the 1953 East German uprising, and has been a leading theorist of nonviolent action and civilian defence since the 1960s. Both books are compilations of articles Ebert wrote on the subject in the 1970s.
Analysis of nonviolent resistance by leading German scholar of nonviolent uprisings, based on his dissertation. In this book Ebert outlines an often quoted series of steps in the escalation of nonviolent action.
Social movements come into being due to contradictions within a society. They create a growing number of people that fear a social catastrophe or believe they can change the current situation. These motives also provide legitimation for people to protest, resist or, in some circumstances, even promote a radical change in their society.
'Power from below through nonviolent action' is the latest contribution from German's best known proponent of civilian defence and nonviolent resistance. Aware that he is 80 years old, Ebert sums up his experiences and elaborates on new ideas for future research
suggesting a non-western interpretation of events.
This as an introductory book on nonviolence by various authors (Equipo Plan Congruente de Paz y Nonviolencia), centred on the classics: Thoreau, Gandhi and Luther King. It provides exercise sheets for students and develops the concept of ‘kingian’ nonviolence (following Martin Luther King’s approach).
Compilation of articles on the rationale, history and practice of the Civilian Peace Service (CPS) in Germany. The CPS, which started in 2000, is a governmentally financed programme with implementers both from state and non-state organizations.
This book combines an anthropological with a political approach, describing the origin, development and activities of the Indigenous Guard of the Nasa People of Cauca (Colombia) with testimonies from some of their leaders.
This book gives an insight into Gandhi’s life (including a chronology), as well as a chronology of events in India and South Africa, plus speeches and articles by Gandhi on truth, nonviolence, civil disobedience, etc.
Introduces general and specific ways of resistance in Colombia, considering also the crucial role that international solidarity has played for the existence and sustainability of these expressions of unarmed resistance. Plus ppt presentation.
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.
Mit CD: Peace Counts: Die Erfolge der Friedensmacher: ed. Institut fur Friedenspaedagogik.
The ‘peace makers’ is an exhibition of people from all over the world engaged in resistance and conflict transformation. The book, which the TV journalist Petra Gerster wrote with the producer of the exhibition, Michael Gleich, gives an impression of the range of nonviolent activism world-wide.
Theological approach to nonviolence and what the author terms ‘nonviolent liberation’.
Goss-Mayr and Goss played a significant role in promoting nonviolent action and training internationally. This book is Goss-Mayr’s biography and memories of their work in Latin America, Madagascar and the Philippines.
‘Grassroots Revolution’ is a nonviolent-libertarian-anarchist magazine. This special issue focuses on an anarchistic approach to ‘social defence’ as opposed to proposals for governments to adopt civilian-based defence.
In this essay Gros reconsiders the roots of political obedience in order to understand the different forms of civic and civil disobedience, in so far as they constitute an ethical resistance to promote democracy.
Stresses the role of voluntary associations in Benin.
This book, which deals with international approaches to conflict transformation, has been compiled by two researchers/practitioners with a background in the Civil Peace Service.
Hannah Arendt presented her ideas about civil disobedience at a symposium of the New York Bar Association in 1970, and posed as the central question whether the law was dead. This article explains Arendt's 'republican' philosophy and distinguishes it from the liberal approaches of Rawls and Habermas, and from democrats like Etienne Balibar, before discussing in some detail Arendt's work On Revolution.
by Channel Four foreign editor.
This collective work analyzes the origins and early stages of conscientious objection and insumision in Spain, its ideological debates and evolution. It includes an analysis of the national and international political context, a chapter on alternative civilian service in the Federal Republic of Germany, and a guide to becoming an objector.
A general description of nonviolent action, its ideas, methods and effects.
Study of important and rare example of open protest against Gestapo, by German wives demanding release of their German Jewish husbands who had been arrested.
Analyses the role of international funding in episodes of 'people power'.
Account widely reprinted (including in both Crow, Ralph E.; Grant, Philip ; Ibrahim, Saad E., Arab Nonviolent Political Struggle in the Middle East Boulder CO, Lynne Rienner, , 1990, pp. 129 , and Stephan, Civilian Jihad: Nonviolent Struggle, Democratization, and Governance in the Middle East (A. 1.b. Strategic Theory, Dynamics, Methods and Movements) , (above) of the (Syrian) Druze resistance to incorporation into Israel after the occupation of the Golan Heights in 1967.
The author stresses that a democratic state based on the rule of law provides a rigorous normative order, which guarantees basic civil and human rights for each citizen, whilst also allowing for democratic government. Therefore, resistance and civil disobedience are always caught in a conflict between social (and political) rules and individual rights.
Since the protests against the use of nuclear energy in the 1980s, civil disobedience is part of German society. The author claims that this kind of resistance shouldn't be confused with the right to resist. Civil disobedience has certain stringent criteria that have to be fulfilled, and should moreover be an exception in a democracy founded on the rule of law and the principle of representation.
A ‘classic’ for grassroots activists. A study of the interdependence of the state, as a form of political organization, and war.
The author distinguishes between 'civil disobedience' and 'whistle blowing', discusses possible classification of the terms and clarifies their meaning with reference to historical context.
Primarily a compilation of texts on civil disobedience from a philosophical perspective, using texts from George Anastaplo, G.E. Lessing, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, plus chapter 6 from John Rawls’s Theory of Justice. Tolstoy is represented by chapters 14 and 15 from his novel War and Peace, and there is an appendix with two short classic texts from Gandhi and Martin Luther King.
Summary account of following organizations and their campaigns: 350.org (founded to combat climate change globally); the Sierra Club; Greenpeace; Idle No More (founded 2012 in Canada mostly by Native North Americans to combat government tar sands plan); and Union of Concerned Scientists.
Study of the Spanish tax resistance campaign against military expenditure, launched in the early 1980s and still continuing.
This book is the key reference guide to the main French nonviolent action movement. It presents the basis for applying a culture of nonviolence to the spheres of the economy, ecology, education, democracy, defence and international solidarity.
Reflects on positive impact of solidarity from Israeli and international activists, with suggestions for strengthening effectiveness
This book aims to sensitise policy-makers and especially those active in the security sector, to the strategic utility of mass-based civilian resistance, and its potential use for national defence purposes.
Authoritarian actions often 'backfire' against those who carry them out. Effective accompaniment strategies make this more likely.
Professor Lopez presents the concepts of civil defense, people power, civil resistance, nonviolent defense and peace building. Although the book is a compilation of articles, it has a structural connection, and the many references provide the reader with more than an introduction – a full map of sources to research the ideas presented.
Manual presenting nonviolent strategies and tactics being used in contemporary environmental or social rights campaigns in France.
'Development' can be a euphemism for displacement, dispossession, disempowerment, unemployment, de-skilling, destruction of natural resources and dehumanisation.
Study commissioned by the then French Defence Minister on the principles and techniques of nonviolent defence.
Study commissioned by the then French Defence Minister on the principles and techniques of nonviolent defence.
The authors offer a definition of nonviolence and its main components, before reviewing the history of nonviolent struggles, as well as the past and future research agenda on civil resistance.
The resistance by Norwegian teachers and other civil society groups to Quisling’s attempt to impose fascist ideology during th e German occupation is one of the most important and successful examples of resistance during World War Two.
contains an overview by Charles Kurzman. ‘The Arab Spring Uncoiled’, and articles on Egypt, Iran, and Syria.
This is the major compilation of declarations, press statements and articles by the protagonists of the insumisión campaign at the time of their disobedience. Therefore it includes accounts of various stages of movement, such as the formation of the first objectors’ groups, and defiance of the Conscientious Objection Act, and the struggle inside the prison in Pamplona. There are also manifestoes, letters of support and internal documents which record these struggles and others that arose out of them: for example the gender issue raised by antimilitarist-feminist women, and the campaign against military expenditure involving tax refusal.
The officially organized German resistance to the French occupation of the Ruhr in 1923 is an especially relevant case study for proponents of civilian-based defence.
A description and evaluation of the work of the international Balkan Peace Team that worked in Croatia and Serbia/Kosovo in the 1990s.
This working paper is the product of a joint workshop on ‘The Timeliness of Civilian-based Defence’ held by the Union for Civilian Defence. It discusses the role of nonviolent resistance in successful conflict management today in the context of the current direction of world politics.
This book has become a key reference on the subject of nonviolent action, and notably was circulated clandestinely in Poland after 1981. It has been translated in Italian, Spanish, Polish, Croatian and Arabic.
The goal of this book is to develop a philosophical concept of non-violence to challenge the ideology that violence is necessary, legitimate and honourable.
A key resource on the French approach to international civilian peace intervention as an alternative to military or humanitarian intervention in conflict zones. It has been translated in Italian and Portuguese.
This encyclopaedia by leading French theorist compiles and analyses key words in the philosophy of nonviolence, as well as strategic components for effective nonviolent action.
The author analyses the foundation texts and historic campaigns of civil disobedience in France and in the world. He constructs a definition of the concept understood as both an ethical imperative and a form of nonviolent direct action.
The goal of this book is to develop a philosophical concept of nonviolence, aiming to challenge the ideology that violence is necessary, legitimate and honourable.
Blockupy in Germany is one of the broadest ranging attempts to politicize the austerity measures, which have been introduced throughout Europe since 2010. Blockupy was enabled to emerge through the combination of embedding protest in the 'Global City' of Frankfurt with the practice of civil disobedience. Drawing on the theories of Lefebvre, Laclau/Mouffe and also Ranciere, the author highlights the links between dissident production of space, the historical formation of the crisis and the focus on Frankfurt as the stage for the protests.
The American activist and academic Nagler and the German theologian Spiegel describe the principles, practices and perspectives of nonviolence.
During the forty years of armed conflict in Colombia, civil society was continuously assaulted by violent infringement of rights by both left wing guerrilla movements and paramilitary groups. Nevertheless, since the end of the 1990s many communities declared themselves 'municipalities of peace'. Their members commit themselves to behave neutrally and to reject any collaboration with armed actors. Naucke investigates the origin, function and structure of San Jose de Apartado, which is one of the peaceful communities that decided to confront repression.
This paper explores the phenomenon of Otpor (Resistance) movement from Serbia that has played one of the crucial roles in overthrowing undemocratic regime of Slobodan Milosevic. It will focus on revealing some of the key elements of every movement such as organization, structure, mobilization and activism.
Covers a range of issues and including a list of organizations and resources.
a paper submitted to the 1998 International Peace Research Association Conference
A book about the beginning of the conscientious objection movement in Spain, which tells the story of Pepe Beunza, the first C.O. in Spain who embarked on disobedience under the Franco dictatorship. It is not only about Pepe’s personal experience, but also an account of the supporting campaigns and of the next conscientious objectors and the creation of MOC, the C.O. movement that still exists.
This book is a compendium of many examples of nonviolent action, mainly in the Basque country, but also from the rest of the world. The examples are presented individually, without a connecting link, so this is not a history, but a compendium of cases.
This book is an introduction to some of the classic theories and movements of nonviolent action, based on the studies of Sharp and Ackerman, which have not yet been translated into Spanish. But it provides a personal interpretation derived from the principled approach to nonviolent action. A very good starting point for beginners in this subject.
Many people dream about a world without hate violence and war, but they doubt such a world is possible. So finally, they cease to dream about it. Patfoort ch allenges such resignation with a book of hope, but also describes the system within which people are inhibited. Finally, he offers a model of equality in rank and nonviolence, where self-assertion without attacking others seems possible.
This article presents a comprehensive account of Mahatma Gandhi’s life, work and thought and explores his continuing significance.
Drawing on his own experience with the Otpor movement in Serbia and an analysis of numerous nonviolent struggles, the author shows how it is possible to start a democratic nonviolent opposition to a dictatorship, to structure it and to guide it to victory.
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.
This pamphlet was for a long time the only publication on the history of nonviolent movements, reviewing classical cases such as the resistance to the Kapp Putsch, the Salt March led by Gandhi and the Prague Spring among others.
This is a handbook explaining the scope of civil disobedience written in a readable, non-technical style. The first two chapters cover the origins and traditions of disobedience, followed by practical examples. Emphasis is given to tax resistance and conscientious objection to military service, with detailed explanantions how to engage in both, plus examples of letters to send to the administration. There are also chapters on theoretical issues arising.
This collection of articles by the author gathers philosophical reflections on the ethics and politics of nonviolence, with reference to numerous classical and contemporary philosophers.
Training manual on civil disobedience addressed to political or social activists, it covers the theory and practice of nonviolent action, including strategy and advice on media and the law. The author is himself a trainer and former leader of Greenpeace on nuclear disarmament.
Training manual on civil disobedience addressed to political or social activists, it covers the theory and practice of nonviolent action, including strategy and advice on media and the law. The author is himself a trainer and former leader of Greenpeace on nuclear disarmament.
dedicates a section with articles from leading US-based social movement theorists, including Mario Diani, William Gamson, Jack Goldstone, and Jeff Goodwin – ‘Why we were surprised (again) by the Arab Spring’, pp. 452-6 – with Sharon Erickson Nepstad on ‘Nonviolent Resistance in the Arab Spring: The Critical Role of Military-Opposition Alliances’, pp. 485-491.
Diasporas play an important role in supporting movements at home and as international lobbies, but they also can replicate internal conflicts.
a preliminary attempt to assess the uprisings from a civil resistance perspective
Begins with the Benin Conference in February 1990.
Explores life-style and lesbian issues connected with the Greenham Common Women's peace camp.
This paper centres mainly on issues of LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender) organising in Africa. It mainly looks at the inroads that have been made in trying to organise and also the lessons and challenges that we have encountered along the way
In-depth analysis of the campaigns fought by Southall Black Sisters and the issues that they faced in the first ten years of our existence.
This article looks at the strategies of nonviolent peace-keeping, will ask using the example of two NGOs with whom the author is familiar if ‘deterrence’ is the only mechanism that is being applied, or how ‘it is working’, and will suggest to put different approaches into a framework of an escalation of conflict without arms.
Nonviolent action is a form of political action based on the decision, either principled or pragmatic, not to physically harm or destroy human life. In many social movements it has proved an effective tool for political change, which can be explained by Gene sharp's theory that all power rests ultimately with those who can withdraw their consent. Nonviolent action applies in several fields: local and regional struggles; in popular (people power) uprisings; in the theory of civilian-based defence; in approaches of nonviolent intervention in conflicts; and in what has been called unarmed civilian peacekeeping.
This paper summarizes the most recent English-language literature on civil resistance for a non-English speaking readership.
Historical survey of the contribution of seven peace movements to halting or preventing the involvement of their own governments’ in wars – from Sweden/Norway 1905 to Iraq 2003.
Discusses the involvement of activists in the revolution in preparations for elections.
Part 1 of this now classic analysis explores political and sociological theories underlying nonviolent resistance, including Sharp’s much-debated consent theory of power. Part 2 (‘Methods’) and Part 3 (‘Dynamics’) are noted below ( Sharp, The Politics of Nonviolent Action (A. 1.b. Strategic Theory, Dynamics, Methods and Movements) ).
International solidarity has been crucial to 'a movement in the making' - the war resisters of Turkey. Plus a commentary from pioneer objector Osman Murat Ulke.
Noting that nonviolent actions, like the resistance to 'Stuttgart 21', seem to become the focus of public attention, the authors (who have participated in many such protests in recent years) analyze the theory, practice, history, and current situation of nonviolent resistance in its international context.
This book contains a number of articles on examples of nonviolent action, as well as more theoretical reflections on nonviolent action, both nationally and internationally.
The Ploughshares activist Wolfgang Sternstein compares Gandhi’s ideas of religion and ethics with the teaching of Jesus. He contrasts both to fundamentalism and dogmatism of any kind.
This book provides accounts of the various peaceful revolutions in Eastern Europe against totalitarianism after 1948, culminating in 1989, with a specific emphasis on the role of media.
Jacques Sémelin has brought together historians, sociologists and political scientists to analyse examples of civil resistance in countries of the East and South, mainly in the 1980s.
Short manual on civil education on nonviolence in simple terms, in the form of a dialogue with the author’s pre-teenage daughters. It has been translateed in English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Catalan, Japanese, Hebrew and Indonesian
Presentation of fifteen years of research into the resources available for civil resistance in the heart of totalitarian systems of the 20th century. Sémelin also extends and develops his analyses of civil resistance in the context of European Communism.
Huge historiography which uncovers the role of civil servants in resisting the deportation of Jews during WWII occupation in France; based on several years of archival and interview-based research.
The “Orange Revolution” in Ukraine 2004 stirred up a discussion about the role of external support for social movements. There is a tendency to see this kind of support in black and white, either as something desirable or as something completely unacceptable that destroys a “pure” movement. Debates about financial support have been most vocal: one has to be either for or against US sponsoring of revolutions around the world. This paper will look at the complexities of external support, and try to get beyond the either/or discussions.
A study of civil disobedience from a legal standpoint.
This book was written in 2011 by the present leader of the radical party ‘Podemos’, just before he became a TV star. His aim is to explain the genealogy of the 15M movement, linking it with’Juvenal sin Futuro’ (Youth without a Future) and ‘Democracia Real Ya’ (True Democracy), and connecting these with the lessons learned in the anti-globalization movement at the beginning of the 21st century, and with the Italian ‘Disobedienti’.
This paper tries to understand the existing and possible strategies of transnational movements working for social change, especially those striving for an unarmed or nonviolent change of direct and structural violence, i.e. war and the social structures upholding authoritarian regimes, sexist, racist, capitalist and militarised societies.
The disintegration of the Soviet bloc led to different kinds of peaceful transformation in Central Eastern Europe at the end of the 1980s. In spite of many differences, common tendencies became apparent. Leading experts elaborate on similarities and differences in the GDR, Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia.
Pussy Riot demonstrated provocatively in the Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow (which is a symbol of Russian Orthodoxy) in February 2012, and then uploaded a video of this event with the caption 'Mother of God, drive out Putin'. This protest resulted in the arrest of the activists and made Pussy Riot world-famous, though they had staged four other politically and artistically motivated performances. This article assesses whether Pussy Riot's acts can be seen as civil disobedience.
A much more extensive list of German titles is available in:
Steinweg, Reiner, with Saskia Thorbecke, Gewaltf reie Aktion, Ziviler Ungehorsam, Sociale Vertedigung, Linz/ Donau 2011.
Link on http://reinersteinweg.blogspot.com//p/books.html
The bibliography (which includes a few titles in English and other languages) covers the theory of nonviolent action, case studies and reports on individual campaigns, movement literature, training for nonviolent action, civil disobedience, social defence and third party intervention including nonviolent action. It also includes materials on influential individual resisters and activists and theorists. Volumes 2 and 3 cover a list of authors and titles listed by year of publication.
NB It is hoped to make this bibliography more readily available on the internet in the future.
Angie could not attend the Coventry seminar but a few days later presented this at the War Resisters' International conference on Globalising Nonviolence