non-violent action

Friday 20th January

Mega dams: campaigning against the plans of the Indian government

Tanmoy Sharma, 20 January 2012

In demonstrations barely reported in the media, peasants and students in the Northeastern Indian state of Assam are fighting together against a proposed gargantuan network of dams across the upper reaches of its rivers in Arunachal Pradesh, one of the world’s six most seismically active regions. The movement has gathered impressive momentum against a project that threatens devastating environmental, demographic and socio-economic impact.

Friday 23rd September

Youth who make the future

Semuhi Sinanoglu, 23 September 2011

Movements capable of bringing about change, just by showing their resistance towards unjust governments, have emerged and young people are directing them. In Turkey, youth participation in politics can be divided into four eras.

Friday 19th November

Civil resistance and the language of power

Jack DuVall, 19 November 2010

“If you want to build a ship, don’t gather your people and ask them to provide wood, prepare tools, assign tasks. Call them together and raise in their minds the longing for the endless sea.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery

The trifecta of civil resistance: unity, planning, discipline

Hardy Merriman, 19 November 2010

Three attributes can make the difference between success and failure for nonviolent movements around the world: unity, planning, and nonviolent discipline.

Resisting corruption: recent progress in Indonesia and Kenya

Shaazka Beyerle, 19 November 2010

People power may be well-suited to a systemic approach to curbing corruption. Political will can be thwarted, because too many office-holders have a stake in the crooked status quo. Those benefiting from graft are much less likely to stand against it than those suffering from it.

Wednesday 17th November

Red lenses on a rainbow of revolutions

Cynthia Boaz, 17 November 2010

Given continued strikes in Iran and the freeing of Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma, neither the Burmese nor Iranian struggle for democracy is a story that should be characterized as an example of a failed movement and successful repression. But it is up to us - the global audience - to understand our responsibility in this dynamic.

The Anishinabe and an unsung nonviolent victory in late twentieth-century Wisconsin

Tom H.Hastings, 17 November 2010

In the wake of the civil rights movement in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s, many Native Americans adopted civil resistance to fight for rights supposedly guaranteed in the 19th century by the government's treaties with their tribes. This true story is how one tribe in Wisconsin, using nonviolent strategies, prevailed in that fight.

Repression’s paradox in China

Lester R. Kurtz, 17 November 2010

From the authoritarian’s perspective, internal dissidents are easy to deal with – put them in jail, have them disappeared, exiled, or executed. It is not so easy to silence the prestigious Nobel committee, however, let alone the international community. Of course, that is exactly why Professor Liu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Upsurge in repression challenges nonviolent resistance in Western Sahara

Stephen Zunes, 17 November 2010

Sahrawis have engaged in protests, strikes, cultural celebrations, and other forms of civil resistance focused on such issues as educational policy, human rights, the release of political prisoners, and the right to self-determination. They have also raised the cost of occupation for the Moroccan government and increased the visibility of the Sahrawi cause.

Monday 15th November

People power and the new global ferment

Stellan Vinthagen, 15 November 2010

People power does not lend itself to the geo-strategic interests of empires or warlords, since it is based on collective action and civic unity, as well as the refusal to comply with existing power-holders. Any movement that opts for civil resistance has to encompass and attempt to represent diverse social groups.