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What's New
Policy Makers, Scholars, Activists Embrace ICNC’s “Right to Assist” Proposal
ICNC’s proposed “Right to Assist” doctrine is the framework for a new international agreement on how external actors can support nonviolent civil resistance movements worldwide, ICNC President Hardy Merriman told a Washington audience on October 16.
The doctrine is the brainchild of Merriman and ICNC Founder Peter Ackerman, who maintain that strategic external support can avert atrocities and civil war. Ackerman and Merriman expound on the theory in their ICNC Special Report, Preventing Atrocities: From A Responsibility to Protect (RtoP) to a Right to Assist (RtoA) Campaigns of Civil Resistance.
“The report provides practical guidance for how the international community can best support movements without undermining their safety and their agency,” said Merriman. “The doctrine engages a wide array of international actors, so it’s not just a state-centered model.” […]
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ICNC Interview Series
We are proud to present the new “ICNC Interview Series,” featuring our conversations with some of the world’s most ardent and influential dissidents, leaders and scholars in civil resistance.These interviews provide first-hand accounts of civil resistance movements and campaigns from across the globe, many of them historic, some of them history-in-the-making. The interviewees also discuss strategies and tactics, lessons learned and the challenges and rewards of nonviolent resistance.
Included in this series launch are ICNC’s interviews with:
• Ivan Marovic, movement leader, Serbia
• Evgeniya Chirikova, movement leader, Russia
• Dr. Jonathan Pinckney, researcher and scholar, U.S.
• Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh, scientist and author, Palestine
• Mohsen Sazegara, dissident, Iran
• Vladimir Kara-Murza, dissident and movement leader, RussiaWe invite you to tap into this knowledge and insight at any time, checking back frequently, as we continually add to our collection of compelling interviews.
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Read ICNC’s classic resource ‘The Checklist for Ending Tyranny’
From the resource: If skills and strategic choice are most influential on the outcomes of civil resistance movements, then we should be able to identify shared capabilities, skills, and choices across a range of movements that form the common denominators of success. Many aspects of a movement can be analyzed, but when we distill the multitude of variables we find that three key capabilities of successful civil resistance movements are:1. Ability to unify people
2. Operational planning
3. Nonviolent disciplineWhen these capabilities are present in a civil resistance movement, it sets the stage for powerful trends to manifest that are also highly impactful on movement success […]
Read The Checklist for Ending Tyranny in English, or in one of 23 other languages!
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New ‘Minds of the Movement’ blog post: Communications, and Why It’s Vital for Today’s Nonviolent Campaigns and Movements
From author Mary King: Nonviolent campaigns usually seize the latest technologies available, perhaps leading some organizers mistakenly to think that e-mail blasts produce effective civil resistance. Yet communications is a larger, more comprehensive component for effective nonviolent action, possessing kaleidoscopic capacities. For impact, it must grasp the most effective techniques developed over past decades, particularly if mobilized public opinion and national or transnational awareness are at stake.Adroit communications can illuminate local authorities’ indifference and inaction, disclose forces acting in collusion, and divulge discrepancies between the stated values of the adversary and its failure to act responsibly. Dependable information is of immeasurable and irreplaceable value […]
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For Activists & Organizers
ICNC provides practical, relevant information and educational opportunities about civil resistance to activists and organizers around the world.
Our view is that nonviolent struggle is a social science that can be studied and understood. Practitioners can increase their chances of success by learning lessons from each other as well as from cutting edge academic scholarship on this topic.
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New From ICNC Press
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The Path of Most Resistance: A Step-by-Step Guide to Planning Nonviolent Campaigns by Ivan Marovic, is a practical guide for activists and organizers of all levels, who wish to grow their resistance activities into a more strategic, fixed-term campaign. It guides readers through the campaign planning process, breaking it down into several steps and providing tools and exercises for each step. Upon finishing the book, readers will have what they need to guide their peers through the process of planning a campaign. This process, as laid out in the guide, is estimated to take about 12 hours from start to finish. -
Academic Online Curriculum
ICNC’s Academic Online Curriculum on Civil Resistance (AOC) is an online resource to advance curriculum development, teaching, and research on civil resistance. It offers an extensive and regularly updated set of resources in this field, organized into clearly structured topics and case studies, and drawn in part from content that we and various academic collaborators developed for the ICNC university seminars we’ve led since 2009.Anyone can register to use the AOC at any time and it is free to use.
Topics on the AOC include:
– Civil Resistance: Nature, Ideas and History
– Strategic Considerations in Civil Resistance Struggles
– Types of Civil Resistance StrugglesAnd more!
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ICNC Translations Program
Translating civil resistance literature into diverse languages is one of the most powerful ways to spread knowledge and increase the effectiveness of nonviolent movements struggling for rights, freedom, and justice. Learn more about our translations program.
We also currently host resources on civil resistance in over 70 languages and dialects on our website.
Find Translated Resources
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For Scholars & Students
The discipline of civil resistance has developed enormously in recent years, driven by new quantitative and qualitative scholarly research, as well as by numerous nonviolent movements around the world.
ICNC runs a number of grant-supported academic and educational programs to meet the growing demand for cutting edge research, applied knowledge and practical skills in this field. Look at our research, writing, teaching and other educational offerings and review current calls for proposals or applications.
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Academic Online Curriculum
ICNC’s Academic Online Curriculum on Civil Resistance (AOC) is an online resource to advance curriculum development, teaching, and research on civil resistance. It offers an extensive and regularly updated set of resources in this field, organized into clearly structured topics and case studies, and drawn in part from content that we and various academic collaborators developed for the ICNC university seminars we’ve led since 2009.Anyone can register to use the AOC at any time and it is free to use.
Topics on the AOC include:
– Civil Resistance: Nature, Ideas and History
– Strategic Considerations in Civil Resistance Struggles
– Types of Civil Resistance StrugglesAnd more!
Register now! -
Calls from ICNC Academic Initiatives
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Throughout the year, ICNC is offering a number of academic opportunities, resources, and support that it makes available to scholars and students. The field of civil resistance has grown immensely and these academic programs aim to respond to the growing demand for knowledge and skills and contribute to expanding the quality of education, research, and curriculum related to civil resistance. This page has all of the current and past calls for the ICNC’s programs, such as learning opportunities, curriculum support, and research grants. -
ICNC Press and Publications
New from ICNC Press:
Preventing Mass Atrocities: From a Responsibility to Protect (RtoP) to a Right to Assist (RtoA) Campaigns of Civil Resistance
by Peter Ackerman and Hardy MerrimanEvents of the last decade demand new approaches to atrocity prevention that are adaptable, innovative and independent of a state-centered doctrine. With the aim of reducing risk factors such as civil war, we argue for a new normative framework called The Right to Assist (RtoA)….
See ICNC Press Publications
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For the Policy Community
Civil resistance movements have a proven role in advancing human rights, democratic governance, and curtailing corruption. They are a critical factor in addressing root causes of human suffering and reducing deadly violence in the world.
It is incumbent for members of the policy community who care about these issues to understand how movements work; their historic record of making change; and when, how, and under what circumstances external actors can take actions that are helpful to movements.
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New From ICNC Press
Preventing Mass Atrocities: From a Responsbility to Protect (RtoP) to a Right to Assist (RtoA) Campaigns of Civil Resistance by Peter Ackerman and Hardy MerrimanEvents of the last decade demand new approaches to atrocity prevention that are adaptable, innovative and independent of a state-centered doctrine. With the aim of reducing risk factors such as civil war, we argue for a new normative framework called The Right to Assist (RtoA)….
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Powering to Peace: Integrated Civil Resistance and Peacebuilding Strategies
by Veronique Dudouet
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This report explores the complementary ideas and practices that civil resistance and peacebuilding approaches present, each from different points along the conflict transformation spectrum. Both strategies oppose violence in all its forms, and seek to pursue just peace by peaceful means. However, they take different approaches to conflict transformation, in particular how they analyze primary causes of violence and how they respond to conflict. Drawing on a number of case studies, this report aims to help practitioners and scholars understand how integrating these strategies can help establish a path for “powering to peace.” -
Supporting Civil Resistance Movements: Considerations for Human Rights Funders and Organizations
What makes civil resistance movements effective? If funders and human rights organizations can identify key factors that answer this question, then their efforts can be oriented towards trying to support the development and growth of those factors. […]
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Minds of the Movement Blog
Minds of the Movement is a blog for those interested in the ideas and experiences of people on the front line of civil resistance, and those who seek to understand the art and science of nonviolent struggle.
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The Meira Paibis: The Brave Mothers of Manipur at the Forefront of a Strong Nonviolent Resistance Movement
Minds of the Movement blogger Binalakshmi “Bina” Nepram writes: Last January, the people of the state of Manipur and northeast India rose up against the Indian government’s attempt to introduce the Citizenship Amendment Bill, which they found discriminatory and a grave violation of the Indian Constitution and Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Millions rose up in protest across the region.This blog post focuses on the Meira Paibis, a group of Manipuri women who led many extraordinary nonviolent protests that lasted for weeks—and ultimately compelled the government to withdraw the bill the very next month, last February. The Meira Paibis have actually been organizing for decades, notably against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), a controversial act that has spurred police impunity in the northeast region […]
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The Youth Climate Movement’s Early Tactics and Gains: Declaring A Climate Emergency
Minds of the Movement blogger Elizabeth A. Wilson writes: Climate change is arguably the most important issue confronting humanity today, presenting an existential threat that may imperil the very existence of life itself. Global and national governance structures have failed to address this threat, so children and youth are stepping up to demand action against greenhouse gas emissions.As youth climate activists and their allies are gearing up for global actions on September 20th and 27th, timed around the UN Climate Summit on September 23rd, it is important to look at what this relatively new nonviolent movement has already achieved.
Catalyzed in large measure by the 16-year old Swedish schoolgirl, Greta Thunberg, who undertook a solitary Skolstrejk för Climatet [school strike for climate] in front of the Swedish Parliament building in August 2018, a global movement emerged in less than half a year […]
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What’s Next In Puerto Rico’s Movement for Justice and Democracy
Minds of the Movement blogger Sara Vazquez Melendez writes: For 14 days this summer, Puerto Ricans engaged in nightly protests that resulted in the ousting of Governor Ricardo Rosselló. The protests—which amassed nearly one-third of the archipelago’s population—were sparked by a leaked chat in which the governor and members of his cabinet exchanged misogynistic, homophobic, and classist messages, including threats against political opponents.The event, now dubbed “RickyLeaks,” also revealed how the government manipulated media messaging to create a positive image of the administration and gain support for its efforts in privatizing the public sector. Perhaps most stunningly, the chat included jokes made by officials in regards to the 4,645 deaths that resulted from Hurricane Maria […]
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