Center for Nonviolent Conflict Research

Webinar: Participatory Democracy in the Serbian Student Movement

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Tuesday, February 10 | 12:00 – 1:30pm EST | Register Today

What really happens inside a movement when people decide to govern themselves? Anatomy of the Plenum takes readers inside the student blockades that swept Serbian universities after the deadly Novi Sad railway station collapse, offering a rare, ground-level view of how ordinary students built extraordinary systems of collective decision-making. Drawing on dozens of in-depth interviews, the book reveals how plenums—horizontal, participatory assemblies—became living laboratories of democracy: spaces where students debated strategy, managed conflict, organized logistics, confronted repression, and wrestled with the messy realities of direct rule by the many.

Join three of the book’s authors for a live conversation unpacking what the plenum experience teaches us about power, legitimacy, organization, and the limits—and possibilities—of participatory democracy. An activist respondent from New Generation Germany will reflect on the book’s insights from the perspective of lived movement experience, connecting the Serbian case to broader struggles for democratic agency around the world. This webinar offers a timely discussion about how movements learn, adapt, and make decisions under pressure.

Learn more about the book and download a copy in English or Serbian.

Report Release in Novi Sad, Serbia

On Monday, January 26, the Center on Nonviolent Conflict Research (CNCR) hosted in Serbia the release event of our new book, Anatomy of the Plenum: Power, Decision-Making, and Organizational Learning During Student Blockades in Serbia at the Independent Journalists’ Association of Vojvodina in Novi Sad. Authors Marko Škorić, Aleksej Kišjuhas, and Jovana Čikić took the stage to present the book, sparking insightful conversations with the audience — several of whom arrived directly from a protest held earlier that day in Novi Sad.

Published by People Power Publishers, CNCR’s new publishing initiative, the book is part of the Nonviolent Conflict Special Report series, which continues the legacy of the ICNC Special Report series and ICNC Press.

Activist Guide: The Power of Writing and Storytelling

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By: Amber French, Senior Advisor, International Center for Nonviolent Conflict.
Original presentation prepared for a skills-sharing webinar for Beautiful Trouble, June 3, 2025

 

This short guide addresses all activists interested in using the tool of writing to further democracy, justice and peace. Any kind of organizing experience is valuable, whether it’s funded or not, and writing carries enormous value and power for our movements, whether in the form of storytelling or something else.

 

Writing is our expressed humanity

We are stronger than we think. Authoritarians, corrupt elites and other power abusers dehumanize activists, reducing them to advocates for a cause. Yet grassroots actors are also strong conduits of agency, action, intellect, ideas, imagination, creativity, experience, valuable learnings, emotions…

Writing rehumanizes and vehicles solidarity to grassroots leaders engaged in nonviolent struggle for democracy and peace. Activists and their expressed humanity are an under-recognized force to counter violence and injustice in our societies.

The term “storytelling”

Storytelling can be defined as tracing our histories back to the very seed of our activism, in a way that logically reconstructs our trajectory so a target readership can understand, make sense of, and learn from it.

What are we really talking about when we say storytelling? What kinds of actions and activities? They include:

  • investigative journalism and movement-centered news outlets like Waging Nonviolence and ICNC’s blog;
  • engaged publishing (like Daraja Press);
  • documenting human rights violations at the grassroots level;
  • publishing zines, underground publishing
  • fiction writing and poetry;
  • activist blogging and podcasting;
  • a whole array of multimedia formats: plays, movies, art and so on, which require telling a story;
  • writing and translating activist resources (like Beautiful Trouble and the ICNC Resource Library);
  • collective applied research reports like the Fatshimetrie campaign in the DRC (discover this fascinating campaign here);
  • not to mention the more classic stuff like advocacy campaigns on social media.

Activist blogging played a crucial role in many Arab Spring revolutions, drawing considerable international attention to nonviolent revolutions in countries like Tunisia and Egypt (Aya Chebbi wrote a very influential activist blog, for example). Writing itself carries the very seed of resistance in it—but also much more.

Storytelling helps humanize people—activists—who oppressors do everything in their power to dehumanize. Telling their own ‘stories’ to an international readership helps activists build bridges with the outside and make external support more activist-centered. In my experience, many human rights defenders want to tell their stories… not everyone, but many.

But the narrow frame of storytelling distracts us from an important point. It makes us gloss over the real tool for change, which is the fundamental skill used in storytelling: WRITING, which underpins many multimedia formats beyond just text. You need to engage in writing in order to produce videos, movies, podcasts, art exhibits and so on. Activist writing has been my topic of work for the past 17 years as editor of three online journals—I’ve commissioned 300+ articles from 150+ authors, at least half of whom identify primarily as activists. So in the first part of this guide, I’ll be referring to the writing frame, while the last half will be more specifically focused on storytelling tactics as nonviolent resistance.

The activist writing frame

Engaging in activism often requires dedication, strength, resilience, pain and loss. Writing can sometimes be a long, difficult, time-consuming and painful process for activists. It can bring back trauma. It’s intensely personal. I always tell my authors that writing is a physical extension of their hands, their fingertips; it is part of who they are. The stakes of activist writing are high, both personally for activists and their close circles, and politically for their movements. Importantly, activist writing is very much a function of building self-confidence and developing a sense of entitlement, in a positive sense—the belief or the REALIZATION that we are entitled to a readership, that our experiences and our voices are worth being heard. A sense of entitlement is essential in our activism more broadly: every human is entitled to their human rights, but we don’t all fight for or seize/exercise our rights, because we must first realize we are entitled to them.

When we focus on activist writing, we more fully capture the human agency that activists carry as people who accomplish complex, brave, outstanding, smartly calculated tasks at their own peril.

The writing frame is also important because the nature of activist writing is very different from the nature of non-activist writing. That is to say, activists sometimes relate differently to writing than non-activists do. They have unique needs as writers. Activist writing is done in real time, in real life, with real human consequences and impacts. It has a normative and political nature. Activist writing is both a process and a product. It is simultaneously an expression of, and catalyst of, truth and human agency. More than just performance, activist writing is performative—which means it has the capacity to remember, to legitimize, to remind, to instruct, to spur action. In short, writing makes our activism whole, and storytelling is only one very small piece of this. But again, don’t worry, this guide will also shed some light on storytelling as resistance.

A quick step back

But before we go further into writing or “storytelling” tactics, I want to take a big step back and return to the point of departure of this presentation: That writing is hard when you’re an activist. There are different starting points and categories of activist-writers:

  • Category 1: “I don’t have anything worthy to write about. I don’t have anything to say.”
  • Category 2: “I have something to write but don’t know how to write it, or I don’t know what to write, what parts of my experience to bring out.”

The majority of my activist-authors are in this phase, and I commonly have to coach them to identify their successes. Importantly, successes include both outcomes you’d typically view as a success—achieving a movement objective—and what some might consider “failures” and lessons learned.

  • Category 3: “I have many things to write. I’m ready to write them or already am. I am looking for specific tools for specific goals, because I want to make a change with my writing.”

Some of my activist-authors fall into this category, and that’s great, but many of them have a very narrow view of the usefulness of writing, seeing it only as resistance itself (social media campaigns, hashtag activism, etc.). I usually have to coach this kind of activist-author to see their own worth, beyond simply as someone with a grievance that they want to talk about and calls for action they want to advertise. Like I said at the beginning, our oppressors want to reduce activists to that, when in reality, activists have so much to offer to the study and practice of strategic nonviolent struggle.

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Take a moment to think about which phase you are in. Are you in phase 1, “I don’t have anything to write about, I don’t have a story to tell”; phase 2, “sure I guess I’d be down to write something, why not, but I don’t know what to uplift and need some guidance”, or phase 3, “I am ready to put pen to paper, I already do a lot of writing and I want to make more of a difference with it”? You might be between two categories.

Below are some tools and daily practices that can help activist-writers tap into the full spectrum of human agency that writing offers us, beyond simple advocacy.

Put on your journalist hat

Think of a confident activist you know. Ask if you can informally interview them. Ask them PURPOSE questions like:

  • What was the seed of your activism?
  • When did you first start identifying as an activist? Was it spurred by a personal injustice you suffered, or a collective injustice going on around you that at some point you realized was happening?
  • How did you come to realize that the personal suffering was in fact an injustice? Or if observed, how did you find out it was happening, a news report, a conversation with someone, some group interaction?
  • How did it make you feel? Why didn’t you ignore it?
  • Why do you identify as an activist today?

And so on. If the person doesn’t give you a straight answer that truly speaks to PURPOSE (this is very common), then probe until you get an answer that is clear and explicit enough. Ask your questions a couple of times, in different ways. Look for holes in their logic. What is missing from their answers in order to really understand why they are an activist? Follow up with questions about specific facts: who, what, when, where, why, how.

Take notes and review your notes later to ask yourself what they placed emphasis on. Can you relate? If so, how exactly? Why?

Find a “mirror buddy”, a non-judgmental listener

Ask the shy neighbor who is a decade younger than you, or your mother, or a brother or sister, or the shop cashier you see every week, if they could lend you an ear for 15 minutes (SET A TIMER FOR YOURSELF! Don’t waste their time) so you can tell them more about your work and why you are an activist. Use those informal interview notes you took to guide you.

Then, ask this “mirror buddy” (I’ll explain this title) to summarize what you said, and see if they have any questions for you. What did you need to clarify for them? If you don’t want to or can’t find a non-judgmental listener, record yourself. Video is great, but even just audio is scary enough. 🙂

The underlying concept of this exercise is that editors and readers force you to be face to face with yourself. They put a mirror in front of you, and that’s what is scary. Find a friendly person to be your mirror to practice in before putting yourself out there.

 

Use informal writing methods

If you would typically write in a blank word processing document, go ahead and do so. Then, open a chat conversation or email (ideally on your mobile phone) and explain to a trusted friend or family member what you wrote and why you wrote it. Then… use THAT text as your written product. When you type in a blank document, it’s hard to imagine your readership, so you tend to fall into platitudes and you’re not really saying what you mean. But when you’re addressing an actual physical listener, you make more of an effort to be understood on that person’s level, and this is good for writing. If you don’t have someone in mind, you can also come up with a couple of specific reader profiles to keep in mind while writing, and their biodata—a South African activist for women’s rights who is 50 years old; a young male Colombian researcher who studies peace communities during the civil war, etc.

I always tell my writers: If you want your writing to make a difference, then say what you mean, and mean what you say. This means dropping platitudes, “sacking the teacher in your head” to use the words of a colleague Laurence Cox (you’re not in school anymore, write from your heart!!! Here’s a great example of a blog that was written from the heart, by Mariam Azeem.) Mean what you say means assuming responsibility for your words, owning up to them. They are an extension of you.

Go audio: record your voice into a message to yourself or to someone else on WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram if it’s safe to use technology (don’t share personal data). You can playback your message and type and edit the text it renders. It isn’t cheating, it’s being smart and efficient!!! Many years ago, I worked with a French researcher who was visually impaired. This was before apps for the visually impaired became widely available. He was the author of dozens of books—mostly academic studies but also some non-fiction. He wrote his books entirely through diction, instead of typing, because he had not learned to type efficiently, having lost his sight in the early 1980s. I read much of his work and had always noticed how conversational his tone was. When he revealed his writing method to me, it became clear that the speaking element not only made him more efficient and even prolific, it also improved his written voice.

Brainstorm your successes

…which necessarily include your failures and lessons learned

Brainstorm with your fellow activists if you have achieved something together, whether intentionally or unintentionally. Prompt them with ideas: Did we successfully train people? Did we pull off a nonviolent campaign that had some sort of impact? Ask trusted family or friends: Have I told you something that made you feel proud of me, with regard to my activism? What was it, why were you proud? What difference did it make in your opinion?

Learn about all the ways that writing is power

Below are the 38 ways writing is power, which will hopefully spark some ideas on how you can leverage your writing and storytelling to shift power dynamics in small ways and/or flex your agency in bigger ways.

A little background about this list, because I didn’t make them up, I just observed and compiled them. So let’s give credit where credit is due. Activists are already doing them; they just perhaps don’t recognize the value of them (they have not developed the confidence or positive sense of entitlement required to recognize the value of them).

I’ll also set the scene, since this is also a guide about storytelling 🙂 I attended a gathering of east African activists last winter, who were all leveraging writing in some creative or expository way: as podcasters, TV and film producers, independent journalists, filmmakers, poets, singers, social media influencers, as well as classic “writers.” They wrote scripts. They created videos and wrote posts for their Instagram followers. They read to us their poems from published anthologies. They wrote song lyrics. They managed parody news sites and wrote political satire. They managed local NGO communication strategies. Yet what they all had in common was that their writing was normative: it was to nonviolently struggle for human rights and social justice (and this takes many forms beyond simple advocacy—which is a central argument of my presentation).

As I listened to the conversations over the course of the four-day gathering, including during a session I co-hosted with Rosie Motene to this effect, I scribbled down mad-scientist looking notes to capture all the ways writing is power. So without further ado, here they are.

Writing is…

((check out the Beautiful Trouble tools I’ve embedded into this list – they guide activists on how to operationalize writing as nonviolent resistance!)

  1. …a vehicle for advocacy, raising awareness, movement communications < Beautiful Trouble tool to check out
  2. …a vehicle for sense-making, personal reflection as an activist
  3. …a vehicle for sense-making, collective reflection as a movement
  4. …a source of revenue for activists
  5. …a source of revenue for movements
  6. …a way to officialize information and events (related to truth-telling) < Beautiful Trouble tool to check out
  7. …a way for inter-movement and intra-movement activist learning, education, training and edification to happen
  8. …documentary resistance, a way to set the record straight, truth-telling < Beautiful Trouble tool to check out
  9. …a way to share information (journalism)
  10. …a way to let information get out safely (smoke-writing)
  11. …a way to take a step back and see your activism more clearly, to find your way back to your unique, original “why”, to know ourselves better, to know the truth about ourselves in a world where lies our told about us
  12. …used to influence or control the narrative about your struggle, to not leave silence about ourselves for others to fill (it’s less about what you say, it’s more about who you are)
  13. …a way to generate external support (funding for trainings, international solidarity, unarmed accompaniment for nonviolent movements in conflict zones, etc.)
  14. …a way to build trust with external supporters
  15. …a way to humanize ourselves, in the face of vociferous dehumanization campaigns led by our oppressors
  16. …a way to own up to our activism
  17. …a way to resist suffering and let joy reign (humor, satire, parody…)
  18. …a way to dramatize injustice (humor, satire, parody…) < Beautiful Trouble tool to check out
  19. …a way to keep searching for answers
  20. …a way to find connections and common ground with others, to build community
  21. …a way to build self-confidence and find your voice
  22. …a teambuilding exercise for movements
  23. …a way to learn about how others see you (when you write for international outlets and work with editors)
  24. …a way to give a voice to the less vocal participants of a movement
  25. …a relatively low-risk, low-threshold nonviolent action for those activists who do not wish to be on the frontlines (scrupulous digital security measures must be taken if that writing is to be released publicly, but there are other writing formats and methods that do not require this, like gathering written activist testimonies)
  26. …something that can be leveraged to improve gender and minority inclusion in a movement
  27. …leaving a trace and thus is noncooperation, because our oppressors want to erase our traces
  28. …a way to contribute to the democratization of knowledge
  29. …a human right
  30. …our duty as activists. By sharing our voices, our insights, our experiences, our successes and failures, we are accountable to all other activists in the world fighting for human rights, freedom, peace and social justice
  31. …a way to appropriate power (access to editorial production and publishing)
  32. …something that less-trusted movement participants can be entrusted with (you don’t have to do anything with what they write, and you didn’t raise suspicion by trying to exclude them from your movement which could cause panic and make a movement implode)
  33. …a way to quickly seize trigger events and shed light on injustice that is happening right now < Beautiful Trouble tool to check out
  34. …a tool or strategy, not an action; it promises more when approached with the long term in mind (proactively like building an archive of written activist testimonies, or documenting war crimes) and not as delivering some quick solution (reactively, like launching a hashtag campaign on Twitter)
  35. …does not happen in a vacuum. It is normative, it is politically charged, it gives rise to action.
  36. …not just performance, it is also performative. It connects words with action. It consummates our activism or makes our activism whole. And it makes us whole as activists.
  37. …a way to embrace our humanity
  38. …a way to demystify.

What I really like about this list is that it is about how writing IS power, not how writing CAN be power. It’s already happening; activists are already leveraging writing in these ways—they are already deriving power from this tool.

Take some time to digest this list. Read a few of our REACT activist-authored posts. Come back to the list in a few days. Print it out and show it to your fellow activists. Lead a brainstorming session and solicit some reactions: In our work, have we observed activists using writing for these purposes? If not, why not? What are we missing, what can we do better?

The greater human project

I am a firm believer that as difficult, time-consuming and painful as writing can be for some activists, it is really worth it, at the very least on a personal level, for its reflective value. Writing with or without a readership is a transformative experience and a way we can each individually play a role in the greater human project of defending rights, justice and freedom.

Further reading

 

New ICNC Partnership with the Institut pour la Paix (France)

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ICNC is pleased to announce its new partnership with the Paris-based Institut Pour la Paix (IPP)!

IPP’s mission is to promote peace studies in the French-speaking, European and international space. Its leadership, staff and members make up a multidisciplinary team drawing from academic, professional and civil society circles. IPP supports working groups on conceptions of peace; gender and peace; the environment and peace; and civil resistance, nonviolence and the culture of peace. Its activities are primarily based in France but its constituencies are based in many regions of the world.

ICNC-IPP study day in Paris in 2023. The Working Group identified a need to produce educational materials on civil resistance in French. Credit: Amber French.

Study day in Paris, 2023. Credit: Amber French.

ICNC is a leading organization advancing the study and practice of nonviolent civil resistance to achieve rights, freedom, and justice around the world. ICNC’s distinguished education and training programs have attracted thousands of participants from more than 100 countries. Its research and publications make cutting-edge knowledge accessible to diverse practitioners and scholars. ICNC’s website, with the accompanying blog Minds of the Movement, is a global clearinghouse of information, with resources in over 70 different languages and dialects.

Building on this foundation, ICNC supports the development of new, localized educational initiatives in French, focusing on civil resistance and related themes. Its activities have centered primarily on movements and communities in Francophone Africa, allowing ICNC to build networks of trust in several African countries with activists, movements and other civil society actors. From 2021 forward, its activities in continental France have been spearheaded by Amber French, Senior Advisor and Blog Managing Editor, who is based in Paris.

Aims of the partnership

Shooting of online course videos in Paris, 2024.

The partners aim to find synergies between their respective educational and civic initiatives in France, Europe and the Francophone world. Since the beginning of their collaboration, informally in 2021 when Amber French gave impetus for and co-founded the IPP working group entitled “Civil Resistance, Nonviolence and the Culture of Peace“, the partners have reinforced Francophone networks in civil resistance and peace worldwide, namely through the co-production of the first online course on nonviolent struggle in French. Additional partners for the online course project include Non-violence XXI and LUCHA Lutte pour le changement, a Congolese nonviolent movement for peace and democracy.

The partners are committed to creating spaces for dialogue and enquiries to engage people through programs, conversations, audiovisual means and educational resources. Further, they are committed to promoting and supporting research, action-research and knowledge sharing to promote a better understanding of nonviolent civil resistance and peace studies in Francophone spaces.

The partnership is centered on the three themes:

  • How civil resistance studies and peace studies intersect and are complementary, as well as how they differ.
  • How to build and reinforce Francophone academic, policy and activist communities around civil resistance and peace.
  • How to raise the public profile of nonviolent movements for rights, justice, freedom and peace in Francophone media, policy circles and universities.

History of the partnership

Shooting of online course videos in Paris, 2024.

By early 2022, the working group on Civil Resistance, Nonviolence and the Culture of Peace had been established and announced on IPP’s website, with Amber French, Cecile Dubernet, Raphael Porteilla and later Alain Refalo as co-facilitators. The group was officially launched in May 2023 with the organization of a study day, co-sponsored by IPP and ICNC, at the Institut Catholique de Paris. A few dozen collaborators from France, Europe and Africa converged online and in-person that day to present their recent work on the working group topics. ICNC and IPP collaborators attended.

Conclusion of first online course cohort, 2024.

Also in 2023, group co-facilitators collaborated to produce an internal concept note in French outlining the convergences and divergences between conceptions of civil resistance, nonviolence and the culture of peace. This note was made public on IPP’s website in early
2025.

Further, in 2024, the working group organized a working seminar at the Institut Catholique de Paris, again co-sponsored and attended by IPP and ICNC. This time, among ICNC staff in attendance was Executive Director Ivan Marovic, symbolizing the growing importance placed on ICNC collaborative activities with IPP. The working seminar gathered some 20-25 stakeholders in the Paris area to contribute to the development of a multi-partner online course in French on nonviolent struggle. The online course, hosted by ICNC’s online learning platform, was launched in 2024 and as of early 2025 had cycled through two cohorts of dozens of French-speaking activists, researchers and members of civil society from around the world.

Notable actors in the construction of the ICNC-IPP collaboration from 2021 forward are: Amber French (ICNC), Cecile Dubernet (Institut Catholique de Paris, working group co-facilitator), Raphael Porteilla (Universite de Bourgogne, working group co-facilitator), Alain Refalo (Centre de Ressources sur la Non-violence, working group co-facilitator), Laura Lema Silva (former IPP), Ivan Marovic (ICNC), Hardy Merriman (ICNC), Thomas Hippler (IPP), Philippe Bonditti (IPP) and Mickael Lopes (IPP).

REACT Activist Writing: “Open Mic” + Story Pitches / Scène ouverte écriture militante, propositions d’articles

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This webinar featured eight of our outstanding REACT Activist Bloggers from around the world

((embed video))

 

Webinar details:

The 2025 round-up of activist writing on ICNC’s blog, Minds of the Movement is underway! Amos Oluwatoye, Merab Ingabire, Rosie Motene and many others have been reflecting on their activism and the unique ways that writing is power for them, both individually and in their communities.

In this REACT open mic, we heard directly from Amos, Merab, Rosie and five other activist-creatives around the world who have recently pitched stories for the Minds of the Movement blog. After our planned speakers shared their pitches, we opened the mic up to hear the audience’s comments, reactions & story ideas to relate their activism.

This webinar is a great opportunity to take the pulse of activism happening in 2025, worldwide. Our listeners heard directly from our growing network of activist-creatives: their engagements and the nonviolent struggle(s) they are part of; how activism intersects with both creative and expository writing; how activists relate to writing; and the multitude of ways they use writing & creativity in their struggles for human rights, social justice and peace. The webinar also featured a poetry reading by Kenyan activist Sungu Oyoo.

This webinar took place in English and French with interpretation.

It took place on March 13, 2025 and was moderated by Amber French, REACT Project Co-Lead and Editor of the Minds of the Movement (ICNC).

More About the Presenters:

Steward Muhindo Kalyamughuma, Activist, REACT Guest Editor, DR Congo

Virginie Pochon, Educational project manager, environmental activist, French living in Haiti

Amos Oluwatoye, Writer, research assistant, nonviolent action trainer, Nigeria

Rosie Motene, Podcaster, TV producer, actress, writer, coach, South Africa

Merab Ingabire, Communications specialist, photojournalist, activist, Uganda

Sara Vazquez Melendez, Anthropologist, farmer, activist and civil resistance educator, Puerto Rico

Gabriel Mazzolini, Movement building specialist, content creator, France

Sungu Oyoo, Activist, nonviolent resistance trainer, writer/poet, campaign strategist, Kenya

How Polish Judges Fought to Keep Their Independence

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This webinar featured Marcin Mrowicki alongside panelists Elizabeth A. Wilson and Doug Coltart

 

Webinar details:

This webinar explored the ways in which the legal community can draw practical lessons from the Polish judiciary’s resistance to authoritarian pressures under the ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS). It delved into the tactics judges employed to safeguard their independence, from subtle acts of defiance within courtrooms to collective public resistance. By analyzing these actions, the webinar uncovered the role of judges as defenders of democratic principles, even under significant state pressure. Attendees considered how lawyers, like judges, can maintain ethical standards while navigating political conflicts that threaten judicial autonomy. Furthermore, the webinar emphasized the importance of understanding resistance strategies for legal professionals facing similar challenges globally. Ultimately, it shed light on the judiciary’s critical role in upholding the rule of law in the face of authoritarian encroachment.

Furthermore, key speaker Marcin Mrowicki discussed his monograph, All Rise: Judicial Resistance in Poland, which investigates the strategic and organized resistance of Polish judges against the authoritarian encroachments on judicial independence by the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party from 2015 to 2023. The resistance movement led to significant national and international outcomes, including presidential vetoes of controversial judicial reform bills, the reinstatement of judges, and actions by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) against Poland.

This webinar took place on December 11, 2024.

More About the Presenter and Author:

Marcin Mrowicki, PhD, is Assistant Professor of EU Law and Human Rights at the University of Warsaw (Centre for Europe). He is an author of many academic and popular science publications. He worked as a lawyer at the European Court for Human Rights in Strasbourg (2012-2016), and at the Polish Commissioner for Human Rights’ Office in Poland (2016-2024). Since February 2024, he is also a Secretary of the Inter-ministerial Committee for Restoring Rule of Law and Constitutional Order and a Deputy Head of the Criminal Law Department of the Ministry of Justice in Poland.

 

 

About the Respondents:

Elizabeth A. Wilson has a JD from Harvard Law School and a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. She has taught public international law and international human rights at Seton Hall’s School of Diplomacy, Rutgers Law School, and Columbia University’s Institute for Human Rights, and has been a visiting senior fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg, Germany. She is the author of People Power and International Human Rights: Creating a Legal Framework, an ICNC monograph. She is now an attorney with Gilbert Employment Law, a civil rights law firm.

 

Doug Coltart is a Zimbabwean lawyer, human rights activist, social movement coach, and writer. His legal practice focuses on providing representation to journalists, activists, trade unionists, etc who are prosecuted for exercising their rights. Mostly, he just loves to dance!

 

 

 

 

 

Voices of Resilience: Women Defending Human Rights in Southeast Asia

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Webinar Description:

This webinar featured five women human rights defenders (WHRDs) participating in nonviolent struggles for rights, democracy and peace. Based in Myanmar, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, webinar speakers Evy, Nilda, Ei Mon, Yin Lae and Memee are all contributors to the REACT Activist Writing blog series, “Voices of Resilience: Women Defending Human Rights in Southeast Asia“, powered by ActionAid Denmark.

In this webinar, we heard how WHRDs are organizing in environments that are extremely hostile towards human rights activism. Speakers highlighted how they are navigating unique challenges they face as women, both young and elderly. Beyond movement organizing, these women HRDs engage in writing, knowledge sharing and solidarity building, namely intergenerational solidarity.

Presenters’ ideas, experiences, stories and analysis were particularly relevant to activists facing similar challenges in any region of the world, as well as policymakers and civil society actors working with movements.

This webinar took place on October 16, 2024. Check out the full REACT Research-in-Action series powered by ActionAid Denmark.

About the Speakers:

Nitchakarn Rakwongrit (Memee) Nitchakarn Rakwongrit (Memee) is a young feminist activist based in Bangkok, Thailand. She became involved in the Thai pro-democracy protests in 2020 and has been actively engaged in activism ever since. Despite her young age, she has faced political prosecution in at least seven cases, with five occurring when she was still a minor. Currently, Memee is actively involved with the Milk Tea Alliance Thailand and strives to incorporate feminism and collective culture into social movements.

Read her REACT blog post:

 

Evy Zulyani is a history graduate working in the fields of communication and knowledge management. After graduating, she focused on labor, human rights and gender issues. Her research was published in the 2020 edition of the Indonesian Feminist Journal, focusing on women migrant workers. She is also an active member of the Asia solidarity movement, known as the Milk Tea Alliance. Currently, Evy serves as an education and research coordinator at the Media and Creative Industry Workers Union for Democracy (SINDIKASI). In her free time, she enjoys walking to explore the city and making zines.

Read her REACT blog post:

 

Ei Mon Soe is Rakhine, one of the ethnic minority groups in Myanmar. She is currently based in Chiang Mai, Thailand. She decided to drop out of university as a form of civil disobedience after the 2021 coup, with a strong will to pursue her education in a democratic country and not under military rule. She was actively involved in anti-coup, pro-democracy protest against the military junta in 2021. She is currently a data science junior student at Parami University (Myanmar) while working as a teaching assistant at Spring University Myanmar (SUM), which was established after the coup to support interim education youths.

Read her REACT blog post:

 

As a human rights defender for over fifty years, Nilda Sevilla steadfastly worked for institutional reforms and societal justice in the Philippines. She taught political science in college before, during and after the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship. At the height of the resistance to the repressive regime, she helped organize a faculty union, serving as its president and achieving legal victory for her illegally dismissed colleagues. As Co-chairperson of the Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance (FIND) and as legislative staff chief in the House of Representatives, she actively participated in lawmaking that led to landmark human rights laws notably against enforced disappearance and torture, on death penalty prohibition, and giving martial law victims recognition and reparation, among others.

Read her REACT blog post:

 

As a young woman from one of the ethnic minorities in Myanmar, Yin Lae Aung started her activism during at university and worked for academic freedom and environmental issues. After the 2021 coup in Myanmar, she mobilized and organized youth protests against the military dictatorship, including boycotting education under junta control and joining art strikes. When the military government threatened and attempted to arrest her because of her activism, she was forced to flee to the border area in Thailand. She initiated Rangoon Voice-Cast (RVC), a platform for marginalized voices, youth and the working-class community.

Read her REACT blog post:

 

About the moderator:

Maneesh Pradhan is guest editor of the REACT series “Voices of Resilience: Struggles and Triumphs of Women Human Rights Defenders in Southeast Asia”. He is a passionate advocate for social and ecological justice, with over 20 years of experience in international development and human rights. A firm believer in the power of collective actions, he has an extensive background in collaborating with human rights defenders and building alliances with social movements across Asia. His track record includes strategic planning, rights-based advocacy, campaigning and organizational development. As a pragmatic critical thinker who champions the praxis approach, Maneesh currently serves as the Asia Regional Coordination Lead at ActionAid International, based in Nepal. In his free time, he enjoys music, poetry, and sharing reflections on life through his blog.

 

Activism in Exile – REACT webinar in Arabic w/English interpretation

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ENGLISH BELOW

وصف الويبينار:

الناشطون في المنفى: التحديات، الفرص، التجارب المعاشة ندوة عبر الإنترنت مقدمة من المركز الدولي للنزاع غير العنيف ومؤسسة HuMENA لحقوق الإنسان والمشاركة المدنية، بدعم من ActionAid الدنمارك. الجمعة 21 يونيو 2024 من الساعة 17:30 إلى 19:00 بتوقيت وسط أوروبا (اعرف منطقتك الزمنية). سجل هنا تقدم هذه الندوة عبر الإنترنت موضوع النشاط السياسي في المنفى شهادات وتجارب معاشة لأشخاص أجبروا أو اختاروا مغادرة بلدانهم، والتحديات التي يواجهونها في التكيف مع المجتمعات الجديدة. سيتناول المتحدثون التقاطع المعقد بين النشاط والهوية والتجارب العميقة للمنفى – رحلة مليئة بالبحث المستمر عن المعنى والانتماء.سيتناول المتحدثون التقاطع المعقد بين النشاط السياسي والهوية والتجارب العميقة للمنفى – رحلة مليئة بالبحث المستمر عن المعنى والانتماء. تطلق الندوة سلسلة مدونة REACT (https://everytimezone.com/s/843bb73c : البحث الإجرائي) بعنوان “الناشطون في المنفى: التحديات، الفرص، التجارب المعاشة”، والتي تنقل العديد من الروايات الشخصية التي ستظهر خلال مايو ويونيو 2024. قم بزيارة موقع mindsofthemovement.org بشكل منتظم لقراءة المقالات فور نشرها! —-

Webinar Description:

A REACT webinar hosted by the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict and HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement, powered by ActionAid Denmark. This webinar on activism in exile presents testimonies and lived experiences of people who were forced or chose to leave their countries, and the challenges they face in adapting to new societies. Speakers will delve into the complex intersection of activism, identity, and the profound experiences of exile—a journey marked by an ongoing search for meaning and belonging. The webinar launches the REACT (Research-in-Action) blog series, entitled “Activism in Exile: Challenges, Opportunities, Lived Experiences”, which channels numerous personal narratives to appear throughout May and June 2024. Check back regularly on mindsofthemovement.org to read the articles as they are pushed live!

About the Speakers:

Sarah Sheik Ali is a migrant woman of color, a feminist, and a human rights defender from Lebanon, fighting double battles against patriarchy and dictatorships and advocating for the engagement of activists in exile in change-making back home. She is a Ph.D. candidate in political science with a concentration on diaspora and gender at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles. She is the co-founder and executive director of HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement. She is also a researcher and consultant with significant experience, especially in activism in exile, gender, civic space, democratization, human rights, and women’s rights. She is a former researcher at Columbia University-NYC within the project Global Freedom of Expression.

 

Read her REACT blog post, co-authored with Mostafa:

 

Mostafa Fouad is an exiled Egyptian human rights defender and lawyer with over ten years of experience in MENA civil society. He previously worked as a researcher at Columbia University’s Global Freedom of Expression project. Currently, he leads HuMENA’s programs, focusing on capacity building and empowering HRDs, activists, the MENA diaspora, and social movements across the region to foster transformational change in innovative ways. He is also a co-founder of several networks, including the Innovation for Change Network – MENA Hub and the MENA Network for Countering Hate Speech. His human rights research covers various topics such as gender, exile, democracy, justice, hate speech, and accountability. Mostafa is dedicated to creating positive change.

 

Read his REACT blog post, co-authored with Sarah:

 

 

Solafa Magdy is an award-winning Egyptian journalist and human rights defender who endured nearly two years of imprisonment in Egypt due to her journalistic work and advocacy for human rights. She lives in exile in France, having been recognized by the Paris mayor for her dedication to defending human rights in the face of threats and unjust sentences. A graduate of Ain Shams University in Cairo with a law degree, Solafa has contributed to national and international media outlets, her experiences have fostered a deep understanding of the issues facing the Middle East and North Africa, from political transitions to pressing human rights concerns.

 

Read her REACT blog post:

 

 

Sayed Yusuf Almuhafdha is a prominent human rights defender, researcher, trainer and expert with 15 years experience in human rights advocacy in Bahrain. He has been awarded several international awards in recognition of his continuous efforts in advocating for justice and freedom of the press in Bahrain. Sayed held leadership positions with the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and Salam for Democracy and Human Rights working on human rights advocacy in Europe. In spring of 2014, Sayed Yusuf went into exile in Germany, following continuous judicial harassment and threats to his life.

 

 

Read his REACT blog post:

 

Supporting Nonviolent Action When You’re New to the Movement Space

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Webinar Description

A webinar with Shaazka Beyerle about her new U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) publication, Supporting Nonviolent Action and Movements: A Guide for International Actors. Many organizations are becoming interested in engaging with activists. Yet how does a “newbie” organization—one that is new to the movement space and does not have an activist network per se—decide whether to develop an initiative to support activists? What internal and external factors should the newbie organization look at to make that decision? When should an organization not engage with activists directly, and what are their alternatives?

In this webinar, Shaazka Beyerle will discuss concrete approaches to addressing these questions, touching on shifting power relations, constructive engagement and alternative approaches for implementation of support activities. The guide is based on extensive interviews with international actors from bilateral government donors, implementing partners, private foundations, donor collaboratives, INGOs, multilateral development institutions, and multi-stakeholder initiatives, as well as a USIP-led, multi-country field investigation on the effects of external support for social movement actors.

 

About the Presenter

Shaazka Beyerle is a senior fellow with the Terrorism, Transnational Crime, and Corruption Center, George Mason University. She’s a researcher, writer, and educator in nonviolent action, focusing on anti-corruption, accountability, peacebuilding, gender, and human rights. Her new publication is Supporting Nonviolent Action and Movements: A Guide for International Actors (United States Institute of Peace). She’s also the author of Curtailing Corruption: People Power for Accountability and Justice (Lynne Rienner Publishers); and chapter coauthor on enabling civil society and social movements in Untapped Power: Leveraging Diversity and Inclusion for Conflict and Development (Oxford University Press).

Supporting Activist Writing: A Conversation with Social Justice Editors

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Webinar Description:

A webinar with social justice editors Firoze Manji (founder of Daraja Press and Pambazuka News and Press), Arzu Geybullayeva (digital activist, journalist, board member and editor with Global Voices), Laurence Cox (co-editor of the brand new Handbook of Research Methods and Applications for Social Movements, Edward Elgar Publishing), and Eric Stoner (founding co-editor of Waging Nonviolence) about best practices in supporting activist writing. This panel discussion was facilitated by Nadine Bloch (Training Director of Beautiful Trouble) and Amber French, REACT Project Co-Lead and Managing Editor of ICNC’s blog, Minds of the Movement.

Are you an activist-writer or are aspiring to do more writing about your activism? This webinar will be a unique opportunity for you to exchange directly with prominent editors who run news and/or writing outlets focused on movements, social justice and human rights. Are you an activist or professional whose work intersects with movements, who is interested in pursuing research about movements or activism? This webinar will be your chance to interact with an expert on research methods about, and for, social movements.

We will explore the common challenges and opportunities of activist writing; the themes of power asymmetries in writer/editor relationships; best practices for supporting activist-writers; and many other pressing questions. The webinar will last 1H30 total (including 30-45 minutes for participant Q&A).

About the Presenters:

Firoze Manji is a Kenyan with more than 40 years’ experience in international development, health and human rights, founder of Daraja Press,the prize-winning pan African social justice newsletter and website Pambazuka News and Pambazuka Press, founder of Fahamu – Networks for Social Justice (1997-2010), and host of the online interview series Organising in the time of Covid-19. He is Adjunct Professor at the Institute of African Studies and Contract Instructor, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada; Richard von Weizsäcker Fellow at the Robert Bosch Academy, Berlin; Visiting Fellow at Kellogg College, University of Oxford (2001-2016) and Associate Fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies. He is a member of several editorial and editorial review boards including the Global Critical Caribbean Thought, Nokoko, to name a few.

 

Nadine Bloch is an activist artist, political community organizer, strategic nonviolent actionista and the Training Director for Beautiful Trouble. Her work explores the potent intersection of art and politics, where creative cultural resistance is an effective political action, and a powerful way to reclaim agency over our own lives, fight oppressive systems, and invest in our communities — all while having more fun than the other side! In addition to contributing content to Beautiful Trouble, Beautiful Rising, and We Are Many: Reflections on Movement Strategy from Occupation to Liberation (2012, AK Press), she is the author of Education & Training in Nonviolent Resistance (2016, USIP) and the co-author of SNAP: An Action Guide to Synergizing Nonviolent Action and Peacebuilding (2019, USIP). Find more of her writing on arts and activism at WagingNonviolence.org.

 

Amber French is ICNC Senior Editorial Advisor, Managing Editor of the Minds of the Movement blog (est. June 2017) and Project Co-Lead of REACT (Research-in-Action). For the Minds of the Movement blog, she has commissioned 290+ articles by 130+ activist writers, academics, and others around the world. Having launched and managed ICNC Press in its first three years, she edited nine publications written by scholars and activists. Currently based in Paris, France, writes frequently about civil resistance for a variety of French journals; teaches a People Power course at the European School of Social and Political Science in Lille; and is leading the development of an ICNC online course in French (forthcoming 2024/2025). She is originally from New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.

 

Laurence Cox is a Dublin-based writer, teacher and researcher who has been involved in many different movements since the 1980s. He has edited many activists’ work as co-editor of Interface (https://www.interfacejournal.net/), the activist/academic journal for social movement research. Laurence has written and edited 15 books, ranging from an ebook to support the Zapatista delegation to Europe to an Oxford University Press hardback (The Irish Buddhist: the Forgotten Monk who Faced Down the British Empire). With Sutapa Chattopadhyay, Alberto Arribas Lozano and Ania Szolucha he’s just edited the Handbook of Research Methods and Applications for Social Movements (introduction available for free here: https://www.elgaronline.com/downloadpdf/edcollchap/book/9781803922027/book-part-9781803922027-6.pdf) which emphasizes research from and for movements and experiences from the global South. Laurence is professor of sociology at the National University of Ireland Maynooth and has been writing for ICNC’s blog, Minds of the Movement since January 2020.

 

Eric Stoner is a co-founding editor at Waging Nonviolence, a non-profit media platform that covers social movements and activism around the world. Since 2009, it has published original reporting from contributors in more than 90 countries. He also teaches civil resistance at St. Joseph’s University, New York.

Eric has reported from Afghanistan and the Philippines, and his articles have appeared in The Guardian, Sojourners and In These Times, among other publications. His op-eds are nationally syndicated and have appeared in dozens of newspapers, including the San Francisco Chronicle, Minneapolis Star Tribune and Newsday.

 

 

Arzu Geybullayeva is Board Member, South Caucasus and Turkey Editor of Global Voices, which she joined in 2010. An Azerbaijani columnist and writer, she has a special focus in digital authoritarianism and its implications on human rights and press freedom in Azerbaijan. Arzu has written for Al Jazeera, Eurasianet, Foreign Policy Democracy Lab, CODA, Open Democracy, Radio Free Europe, and CNN International. She is a regular contributor at IWPR, Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso and Global Voices. In 2019, Arzu launched Azerbaijan Internet Watch, a platform that documents, and monitors information controls in Azerbaijan.

 

Resisting Violence & Dictatorship in Africa

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[En français ci-dessous]

Webinar with Steward Muhindo, Abdou Khafor Kandji, Eliane Feza, and an anonymous presenter from Cameroon

April 4, 2024

Note: This recording is in French with English interpretation. You will see language options at the bottom of the screen.

Webinar Details

Listen to activist-writers present their REACT blog posts about nonviolently resisting violence and dictatorship in Francophone Africa. We heard about:

  • the Y’en a Marre movement (“Enough is Enough”) for a more democratic Senegal, a country considered for a long time as a stable African democracy but that is now facing electoral turmoil and resurging authoritarianism;
  • the On Est Ensemble movement in Cameroon, which is organizing to win environmental justice and workers’ rights against the multinational corporation, Castel; and
  • Bosembo, the art of slam (poetry in rap) in service of advancing peace and justice in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country whose people have suffered for decades from societal violence and impunity. Due to connection difficulties, we did not hear all of Eliane’s presentation. Read her article here.
  • + Anonymous presenter from Cameroon

Steward Muhindo of La LUCHA, a nonviolent movement for a more just and peaceful Congo, facilitated the webinar, alongside the above contributors to his guest-edited REACT blog series.

 

About the Presenters

Steward Muhindo Kalyamughuma is an activist with the non-violent, non-partisan citizen movement LUCHA (Lutte pour le Changement), which has been campaigning peacefully for peace, democracy, justice and good governance in the Democratic Republic of Congo since 2012. A lawyer by training, Steward Muhindo is also attached to the Centre de Recherche sur l’Environnement, la Démocratie et les Droits de l’Homme (CREDDHO) as a researcher on human rights and the armed conflicts that have shaken the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo since 1996.

 

 

Abdou Khafor Kandji was born and raised in Diourbel, a region of Senegal located over a hundred kilometers from Dakar. He holds a degree in business and organization management from the Institut Africain de Management (IAM). He became an activist in the Y en a Marre movement in 2012. Since 2014, he has held various positions within the movement, notably in coordination. Since October 2023, he has been pursuing a master’s degree in monitoring and evaluation of projects, programs and policies at the Centre Africain d’Etudes Supérieur en Gestion (Cesag).

 

 

 

Eliane Feza was born in Goma in the province of Nord-Kivu in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Trained as a lawyer with a master’s degree in criminal law, Eliane is a slam artist with the Goma slam session collective, and a trainer in slam therapy and slam-feminin. Blogger, women’s and children’s rights activist, environmental activist, public speaking trainer, peacebuilder, humanitarian volunteer with the GOMA ACTIF collective, PRIX RÉGIONAL DES JEUNES INNOVATEURS (2023) of the Great Lakes region and PRIX JEUNES ESPOIRS (2023) of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and its diaspora, awarded to 100 young Congolese who initiate initiatives contributing to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda.

 

 

 

+ Anonymous presenter from Cameroon

 

About REACT

ICNC launched in 2023 a collaboration with ActionAid Denmark entitled, “Research In Action” or REACT for short. The project was conceived as a global research program with the goal to create useful knowledge from and for nonviolent movements. The collaboration is based on four key principles:

  • Addressing understudied areas and research lesser-known cases and realities
  • Engaging activists as authors and guest editors
  • Focusing on issues, collaborators, cases, networks and stories from outside the Global North
  • Experimenting with new engaging formats

Writing is a central building block of our collaboration. We—the REACT team alongside a dozen activist-authors from all world regions—will use Minds of the Movement as a space to explore, express, exchange and elaborate. Check out our work so far: “REACT Series, powered by ActionAid Denmark”.

Our activist-writers are engaged in nonviolent movements for diverse causes, but they all have one thing in common: A relationship to writing that transcends the personal and ventures well into the domain of collective power.

 

 

Résister à la violence et à la dictature en Afrique francophone

Webinaire avec Steward Muhindo, Abdou Khafor Kandji, Eliane Feza, et un présentateur anonyme du Cameroun

4 avril 2024

 

Note : Cet enregistrement est en français avec interprétation en anglais. Vous verrez les options de langue en bas de l’écran.

Détails du webinaire

Ecoutez des militants-écrivains présenter leurs articles de blog REACT sur la résistance non-violente à la violence et à la dictature en Afrique francophone. Vous entendez parler (LIENS AUX ARTICLES EN BLEU) :

  • Du mouvement Y’en a Marre au Sénégal, un pays considéré pendant longtemps comme une démocratie africaine stable mais qui était récemment confronté à des troubles électoraux et à la résurgence de l’autoritarisme ;
  • Du mouvement On Est Ensemble au Cameroun, qui s’organise pour obtenir la justice environnementale et les droits des travailleurs contre la multinationale Castel ; et
  • du Bosembo, l’art du slam (poésie en rap) au service de la paix et de la justice en République démocratique du Congo, un pays dont le peuple souffre depuis des décennies de la violence sociétale et de l’impunité. Ecoutez un enregistrement audio de l’intervention d’Eliane (des problèmes de connexion nous ont empêché de tout entendre).

Steward Muhindo de La LUCHA, un mouvement non-violent pour un Congo plus juste et pacifique, a animé le webinaire, aux côtés des contributeurs à sa série de blogs REACT.

À propos des intervenant.e.s

Steward Muhindo Kalyamughuma est un activiste du mouvement citoyen non violent et non partisan LUCHA (Lutte pour le Changement), qui fait campagne pacifiquement pour la paix, la démocratie, la justice et la bonne gouvernance en République démocratique du Congo depuis 2012. Juriste de formation, Steward Muhindo est également attaché au Centre de Recherche sur l’Environnement, la Démocratie et les Droits de l’Homme (CREDDHO) en tant que chercheur sur les droits de l’homme et les conflits armés qui secouent l’est de la République démocratique du Congo depuis 1996.

 

 

Abdou Khafor Kandji est né et a grandi à Diourbel, une région du Sénégal située à plus d’une centaine de kilomètres de Dakar. Il est titulaire d’un diplôme en gestion des affaires et des organisations de l’Institut Africain de Management (IAM). Il a commencé à militer au sein du mouvement Y en a Marre en 2012. Depuis 2014, il a occupé différentes fonctions au sein du mouvement, notamment à la coordination. Depuis octobre 2023, il poursuit un master en suivi et évaluation des projets, programmes et politiques au Centre Africain d’Études Supérieur en Gestion (Cesag).

 

 

 

Eliane Feza est née à Goma, dans la province du Nord-Kivu, à l’est de la République démocratique du Congo. Avocate de formation, titulaire d’une maîtrise en droit pénal, Eliane est slameuse au sein du collectif Goma slam session et formatrice en slam thérapie et slam-féminin. Blogueuse, activiste des droits de la femme et de l’enfant, activiste environnementale, formatrice en art oratoire, bâtisseuse de paix, volontaire humanitaire avec le collectif GOMA ACTIF, PRIX RÉGIONAL DES JEUNES INNOVATEURS (2023) de la région des Grands Lacs et PRIX JEUNES ESPOIRS (2023) de la République démocratique du Congo et de sa diaspora, décernés à 100 jeunes congolais qui initient des initiatives contribuant à la réalisation de l’Agenda 2030.

 

 

 

+ Intervenant anonyme du Cameroun

 

À propos de REACT

ICNC a lancé en 2023 une collaboration avec ActionAid Danemark intitulée “Research In Action” (recherche en action) ou REACT. Le projet a été conçu comme un programme de recherche global dont l’objectif est de créer des connaissances utiles à partir des mouvements non-violents et pour ces derniers. La collaboration repose sur quatre principes clés :

  • Aborder des domaines peu étudiés et rechercher des cas et des réalités moins connus
  • Impliquer les activistes en tant qu’auteurs et éditeurs invités
  • Se concentrer sur des questions, des collaborateurs, des cas, des réseaux et des histoires en dehors des pays occidentaux.
  • Expérimenter de nouveaux formats engageants

L’écriture est un élément central de notre collaboration. Nous, l’équipe REACT, ainsi qu’une douzaine de militants-auteurs de toutes les régions du monde, utiliserons Minds of the Movement comme un espace d’exploration, d’expression, d’échange et d’élaboration. Découvrez notre travail jusqu’à présent : “REACT Series, powered by ActionAid Denmark” (en anglais pour la plupart, avec certains traduits en espagnol et en français).

Nos activistes-auteurs sont engagés dans des mouvements non-violents pour des causes diverses, mais ils ont toutes et tous une chose en commun : une relation à l’écriture qui transcende l’aspect personnel et s’aventure dans le domaine du pouvoir collectif.

 

Book Launch: How Youth in Zambia Are Reclaiming Politics

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Webinar with Nalishebo Sinyama and Mary Mwaba

Credit: Youth4Parliament

About the Webinar

Join ICNC for the release of our newest publication, New Blood: How Youth in Zambia Are Reclaiming Politics. This book was written by the founders and core team of Youth4Parliament, a dynamic movement that has transformed the political landscape in Zambia. Movement Manager Nalishebo Sinyama and Core Team Member Mary Mwaba will discuss the story of the movement so far and how they are preparing for the 2026 elections.

Book cover image

About the Book

In 2018, Zambia grappled with political turmoil, a stifled democratic process, and marginalized youth voices. Physical violence among youth from different political factions was a hard reality. Amid this chaos, two friends from opposing parties began the Youth4Parliament (Y4P) movement, igniting a transformation that would reshape Zambia’s political landscape.

Discover how Y4P’s pioneering spirit united young activists across party lines, inspiring a historic shift in the country’s politics. From fostering youth leaders to run for office to mobilizing youth to vote and join an unprecedented emergence of social movements, Y4P’s journey is a testament to the power of youth determination.

This is the story of Youth4Parliament’s first few years—their challenges and victories—told in their own voices. But this book is more than a recounting of their journey; it’s a guidebook for changemakers.

Download Book

About the Presenters

Nalishebo Sinyama is co-author of New Blood and currently serves as the Movement Manager of Youth4Parliament. She is a community organizing specialist, feminist, and young female politician. Nalishebo is the first and youngest woman to be appointed as provincial chairperson in one of the biggest political parties in Zambia. In 2021, Nalishebo was the only female aspirant vying for the Kabwata Constituency parliamentary elections under the opposition political party (the Patriotic Front).

 

 

 

Mary Mwaba is a core team member of Youth4Parliament. She joined the movement in 2019. She is a graduate of the University of Zambia. She is passionate about youth and women leadership, governance, human rights, and sustainable development.

How Israelis Are Fighting Against Democratic Backsliding

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Webinar with Doron Shultziner, May 2, 2023

Webinar Outline

Introduction of Speaker: 0:00 – 2:10
Presentation: 2:11 – 32:01
Discussion: 32:02 – 59:14

Webinar Description

Over recent months, Israelis from many parts of society have united and mobilized to oppose a power grab by the incumbent government against the judiciary. How did this popular movement against democratic backsliding form, what are the impacts and implications of its strategies and tactics, and what broader lessons can be learned?

This webinar highlights the main strategies and tactics that have helped channel the fears over the government’s actions into effective political pressures. The webinar illustrates the importance of the weekly mass protests every Saturday alongside a “national disturbance day” to keep the matter on the public agenda and to influence public opinion against the government’s so-called reforms. This webinar assesses how this strategy enabled various groups to participate in line with their specific characteristics and geographic heterogeneity.

In addition, the webinar highlights the major protest tactics that have been most effective in pressuring the government, such as direct pressure on specific politicians, the mobilization of experts (e.g., legal scholars, economists, political scientists), women’s groups, and IDF veterans and pilots, as well as international players. Furthermore, it discusses the importance of social media in organizing protests and disseminating information, along with the role of traditional media channels.

About the Presenter

Doron Shultziner received his B.A. from the Political Science Department and the Middle Eastern Studies Department in the Hebrew University (2000), and his M.A. (Summa Cum Laude) from the Political Science Department at the Hebrew University (2004). He received his Ph.D. from the Politics & IR Department at the University of Oxford (2008). Later he worked as a post-doctoral fellow and visiting lecturer at Emory University. He returned to Israel in 2009 and worked as a post-doctoral fellow until 2012. He then became the academic director of an Israeli think tank for Zionist, democratic, and liberal thought. Prof. Shultziner joined the Politics & Communication Department at Hadassah Academic College in 2014.

Prof. Shultziner’s main areas of research are democracy and democratization, politics and law, theories of social movements, media coverage of protest activity, and partisan media bias, as well as multi-disciplinary approaches to political behavior. Prof. Shultziner is the head of the Politics & Communication Department at Hadassah Academic College Jerusalem since 2018. He is also one of the founders of Mali-Center for Enterprising Citizens, a nonprofit that advances social entrepreneurship.

Prison Hunger Strikes: How Prisoners Weaponize Their Lives to Win Dignity

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A webinar with Malaka Shwaikh and Rebecca Ruth Gould

April 11, 2023

Webinar Outline

Introduction of Speakers: 0:00 – 5:54
Presentation: 5:55 – 33:16
Discussion: 33:17 – 1:00:04

Webinar Details

How do prison hunger strikers achieve demands? How do they stay connected with the outside world in a space that is designed to cut them off from that world? And why would a prisoner put their lives at risk by refusing to eat or, at times, drink? This research shows that sometimes prisoners’ need for dignity and freedom trump their hunger pangs and thirst.

In ICNC’s newest monograph Prison Hunger Strikes in Palestine, authors Malaka Mohammed Shwaikh and Rebecca Ruth Gould evaluate the process of hunger striking, including the repressive actions prisoners encounter, and the negotiation process. The work’s critical and grassroots understanding of prison hunger strikes fully centers the voices of hunger strikers. The analysis results in actionable takeaways that will be as useful to prison activists as they will be to their allies around the world.

 

About the Presenters

Malaka Mohammed Shwaikh is a Palestinian academic from the Gaza Strip, based at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland where she teaches and researches prisons as spaces of power, resistance, and peacebuilding. She is the author of several works at the intersection of prison resistance and power, including “Dynamics of Prison Resistance: Hunger Strikes by Palestinian Political Prisoners in Israeli Prisons” (Jerusalem Quarterly, 2018), “Engendering Hunger Strikes: Palestinian Women in Israeli Prisons” (British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 2020), and most recently, “Prison Periods: Bodily Resistance to Gendered Control” (Journal of Feminist Scholarship, 2022). She finds purpose and joy in giving back to the community and being involved in social justice work. Her most recent and ongoing project (since 2021) is Freelancers in Gaza, with Candace Amani, to connect freelancers in Gaza with clients around the world and provide them with tailored mentorship.

Rebecca Ruth Gould is the author of numerous works at the intersection of aesthetics and politics, including Writers and Rebels: The Literature of Insurgency in the Caucasus (Yale University Press, 2016), The Persian Prison Poem: Sovereignty and the Political Imagination (Edinburgh University Press, 2021), and, most recently, Erasing Palestine: Free Speech and Palestinian Freedom (Verso Books, 2023). Together with Malaka Shwaikh, she is the author of “The Palestine Exception to Academic Freedom: Intertwined Stories from the Frontlines of UK-Based Palestine Activism,” Biography: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly (2020), which brought together their shared interests relating to Palestinian liberation. She is Professor, Islamic World & Comparative Literature, at the University of Birmingham, where she directs the GlobalLIT project.

Dollars and Dissent:
How Donors Can Support Grassroots Organizing and Nonviolent Movements

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A webinar with Benjamin Naimark-Rowse and Tom Perriello

September 13, 2022

Webinar Presentation

Introduction of Speaker: 00:00 – 08:23
Presentation: 08:24 – 37:37
Respondent: 37:38 – 46:23
Questions and Answers: 46:24 – 1:08:51

Additional Questions and Answers

Webinar Details

More people than ever before are using nonviolent collective action for rights, justice, and democracy around the world. Research shows that nonviolent action has been twice as effective as violence at achieving revolutionary movement goals. And political transitions initiated through nonviolent action have been three times as likely to lead to democracy as political transitions initiated through all other means. Yet, from 2011 to 2018, public charities and private foundations gave only three percent of their total human rights funding to support nonviolent collective action.

Drawing from his ICNC special report, Dollars and Dissent, in this webinar Benjamin Naimark-Rowse outlines trends in donor support in the 2010s, and details how donors’ values, organizational structures, and perceptions of risk affect their support for grassroots organizers and nonviolent social movements.

Former Congressman Tom Perriello, who is currently Executive Director of Open Society-US, offers remarks as respondent.

This event is co-sponsored by the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC) and Human Rights Funders Network (HRFN).

Download Special Report

About the Presenter and Author

Benjamin Naimark-Rowse is the Topol Fellow in Nonviolent Resistance and a PhD candidate at Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He is a Term Member in the Council on Foreign Relations and a Truman National Security Fellow. Ben’s expertise in social movements and resourcing of movements draws on two decades of experience in the donor, NGO, and academic worlds. He has served as a Program Officer with the Open Society Foundations, an electoral observer with The Carter Center, a board member of the University of Chicago’s Human Rights Program, and an advisory committee member of the Leading Change Network. His publications include “Liberating the ‘Enemy’,” “Nonviolent Resistance,” “Darfurian Voices,” “Surviving Success: Nonviolent Rebellion in Sudan,” and “The Founding Myth of the United States of America.” Ben holds a M.P.A. from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and a B.A. with honors from the University of Chicago. His research has been supported by a Harvard Program on Negotiation Graduate Research Fellowship and as a USIP-Minerva Peace and Security Scholar. He is married to Nadia Marzouki. They are the parents of twin girls.

About the Respondent

TomTom Perriello is a former Congressman (VA-05), diplomat (State Department) and advocate for human rights and democracy within the United States and around the world. Tom currently serves as the Executive Director of Open Society Foundations for the United States (OSUS), a philanthropy dedicated to supporting open, inclusive, democratic societies. During his time in Congress, Tom voted in favor of the landmark legislation for healthcare reform, climate change, immigration, antitrust, and economic recovery. During the Obama Administration, he served as the Special Envoy to the African Great Lakes region and authored the second Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review. Tom also served as the President of Center for American Progress Action, and Senior Counselor to CAP, as well as co-founder of Avaaz.org and Faithful America. Tom’s writing has been published in the New York Times, Washington Post, Atlantic, Democracy Journal, The Hill, CNN.com, Slate.com, and Politico.

 

2022-2023 Online Teaching Fellowship

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In 2022, ICNC with support from the Carnegie Corporation grant, has launched its new entirely Online Teaching Fellowship program where its fellows will develop online courses with customized content specifically designed to meet the needs of their local audience and translated into local languages. The program goal is to increase civil resistance skills and capacity and further civil resistance education to the members of local communities that can become civil resistance knowledge distributors and trainers themselves.

When the program was launched, ICNC has reached out to its 100 star alumni from the ICNC online moderated and participant-led courses that were held over the years. More than 20% of the alumni applied for the new Online Teaching Fellowship by June 2022 and ten fellows were selected from Australia, Bangladesh, Catalonia, China, Kenya, Myanmar, Northern Ireland, Russia, Turkey, and Zimbabwe.

The 2022 Fellows are: 

Harley McDonald-Eckersall
Ilker Kalin
Knowledge Mwonzora
Leah Rea
Maria Tsehai
Md. Moynul Haque
Nemo
Lili Soo
Xavier Majó Roca

Harley McDonald-Eckersall is a social change organiser, specialising in areas of strategic communications and movement strategy. In 2016 at age 19, Harley became involved with the Animal justice movement, co-founding the organisation Young Voices for Animals with the mission to educate and inspire the next generation of animal liberation activists. In January 2020, Harley moved to the UK from Australia to work on narrative and strategy at the social movement organisation Animal Rebellion where she used social movement and narrative theory to bring the impacts of animal farming and fishing into the broader conversation around climate action. Harley has recently returned home to Australia to continue her work as a communicator, facilitator and presenter who is passionate about sharing the power of nonviolent action in creating social change. Harley has presented at a number of conferences and events in Australia and internationally on topics of social change, direct action and civil disobedience.

Course Title: Action in the Outback

Course Abstract: When we think about social change movements and civil disobedience, far too often our main points of reference are what happens in cities and urban spaces. Yet, so many of the destructive, violent and exploitative practices we oppose as grassroots campaigners happen far out of the city limits. This course will focus on the potential for nonviolent civil resistance to help rural climate action groups build power and make change in their communities and beyond.

Ilkler Kalin, PhD, is currently an independent scholar and human rights advocate based in Turkey. He received his PhD in Political Science (majoring in International Relations) from Wayne State University in 2018. His research focuses on the topics of nonviolent action, civil conflicts, state repression, and civil society. He is currently developing a new research agenda that looks into the roles of women’s and LGBTI+ organizations in collective nonviolent dissent. He has so far published a peer-reviewed article on the roles of external actors in the dynamics of nonviolent conflicts at Conflict Management and Peace Science, and a policy brief on academic freedom in Turkey at Freedom House, among others. His main motivation in this line of research is to explore ways to strengthen civil society networks in the Global South and to contribute to the outcomes of movements demanding justice, freedom, and human rights, by improving scholarly work and providing policy recommendations on the topics.

Course Title: Civil Resistance: The Theory and Practice of Nonviolent Movements

Course Abstract: Nonviolent movements are considered some of the biggest challenges to entrenched autocratic and populist leaders in the past century owing to their relatively high success rate, outperforming violent opposition groups by a 2-to-1 margin in reaching their stated goals. But what is “civil resistance” (or interchangeably referred as nonviolent direct action and strategic nonviolence)? What exactly constitutes “nonviolent action”? When and why civil resistance works? This course is intended to create awareness on “people power” and to encourage an informed discussion about the strategic advantage of and tactical diversity in nonviolent action. To that end, the course covers key discussions and topics surrounding the concepts, theories, and impacts of nonviolent movements with historical and contemporary examples from around the world. The course also has a special module on the roles of women and gender minorities in resistance movements, which is a relatively new frontier in civil resistance research. Apart from assigned readings and academic lectures, the course also features dialogs with special guest speakers, documentaries, and participant-led discussion sessions.

Knowledge Mwonzora is an emerging academia, human rights, social justice and peace advocate. He holds the following qualifications: MA in Development studies majoring in Human Rights, Gender, Conflict studies: Social Justice Perspectives from the International Institute of Social Studies, Netherlands, Diploma in Sustainable Development and Human Rights Law from University of Antwerpen, Belgium. He also holds a diploma in Federalism, Decentralization and Conflict Resolution from University of Fribourg, Switzerland.  He earned a PhD in Political studies from Northwest University, South Africa in December 2021. His research focused on Transitional Justice and Reconciliation in Zimbabwe with a specific focus on the role of the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission to promote post-conflict justice, peace and reconciliation. He is an alumni of the (International Centre on Nonviolent Conflict) ICNC’ s 2022 participant led online course on Civil Resistance Struggles: How Ordinary People Win Rights, Freedom, and Justice. He is interested in researching on cross cutting issues revolving around transitional justice, reconciliation, civil resistance, nonviolence, climate change, environmental sustainability, human rights, gender and Peace. He was actively engaged in the research and publication of the ‘ Action Aid ‘Youth Climate Action Diaries’ which was aimed at promoting climate justice in Zimbabwe in 2021. He has worked for several organisations that includes a trade union, humanitarian NGOs and research thinktanks. He is currently conducting a nationwide study on Human wildlife conflict in Zimbabwe. He has recently been awarded an Online Teaching Fellowship by the ICNC and will be teaching youths in Zimbabwe on civil resistance struggles in October 2022 and February 2023.

Course Title: Civil Resistance Struggles History and Nonviolence Movements from a Global to Local Perspective

Course Abstract: The online teaching fellowship will introduce participants to civil resistance. The course will overall teach youths and activists on the history of civil resistance with case studies that illuminate the global patterns of civil resistance, as well as Zimbabwe’s social movements, civil resistance against climate change, Dynamics of non-violent resistance movements, people and power, Civil Resistance in Non-Democracies and democracies, critical analysis and discussion on factors that makes civil resistance succeed with examples from across the world. I will also teach participants on Strategies and Tactics of Civil Resistance and how to maintain non-violence campaigns/movements when provoked by agent provocateurs and state security agents.

Leah Rea is a scholarship PhD researcher examining the impact of constitutional conventions established by devolution upon the progression of human rights in Northern Ireland at the Transitional Justice Institute, Ulster University. She holds a Master’s with Distinction in Violence, Terrorism and Security, a Master’s with Distinction in Conflict Transformation and Social Justice, and an LLB, all from Queen’s University Belfast.

Leah is a committed activist with experience in various human rights and equality grassroots campaigns in Northern Ireland, as well as experience in organising campaigns to lobby political representatives and challenge policy. Leah is passionate about social justice and believes that human rights progression and the peace process in Northern Ireland are entwined: to advance one is to advance the other. She believes it is important for contemporary nonviolent movements to learn from historic movements in Northern Ireland, especially in the context of the struggle for the advancement of human rights in the face of State inaction and/or opposition.

Course Title: We Shall Overcome, Then and Now: Learning about Civil Resistance and Social Justice using the History of Northern Ireland

Course Abstract: The course will introduce participants from Northern Ireland to the theoretical and practical study of civil resistance and its methods within the context of specific case studies. Participants will be introduced to the roles and experiences of civil resistance in the context of historic and contemporary campaigns challenging social injustice and human rights issues in Northern Ireland. The course will facilitate the study of the historic Northern Ireland civil rights movement within the period 1964-1969 and contemporary campaigns including in the areas of reproductive healthcare rights and Irish language rights. This comparative examination will provide an insight into the methods, tactics and strategies of these movements, focusing upon civil resistance. Further it shall determine their effectiveness, enabling participants to observe trends and commonality of issues and responses which can inform their knowledge and understanding of the practice of civil resistance as a means of addressing injustice.

Maria Tsehai is a communication expert and a media personality. Ms. Sarungi- Tsehai is known for a wide varied action-packed career in activism, pushing for the freedom of expression and press freedom in Tanzania. She is the co- founder of the citizens’ social media movement called Change Tanzania and a well-known vocal advocate for democracy and rule of law through her widely followed Twitter account. She has led and organized a number of successful online petitions, online protests calling for the abolishment of unfair taxes, freeing of illegally detained activists and politicians also advocating for a new constitution in Tanzania.

Course Title: Wenye Nchi Wananchi – Citizen Power

Course Abstract: This course is for Swahili speakers, largely focusing on providing more information about what citizen power is really about in civil activism and resistance. In a time when many countries in the Eastern Africa region are facing increased threats to civic space, what can citizens do to resist and keep the civic space alive. This course is aimed primarily at active citizens, young emerging activists in Tanzania and in the region who want to build more understanding and background to civil resistance and movement building.

 

Md. Moynul Haque is a faculty member at the Department of Political Science, Jagannath University, Dhaka, Bangladesh. He is currently pursuing PhD in Sociology at Bielefeld Graduate School in History and Sociology (BGHS), Bielefeld University, Germany. His research focuses on civil resistance in Bangladesh with particular attention to student protest activism. Moynul received Bachelor and Master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Dhaka. He was the recipient of the German DAAD scholarship in 2013 and studied MA in Development and Governance at the Institute of Political Science, University of Duisburg- Essen, Germany.

Course Title: Introduction to Study and Practice of Civil Resistance

Course Abstract: This course provides a brief introduction to the concept of civil resistance by capturing various terminologies, relevance, scholarly debates, and the development of this emerging field of study. It will allow participants to know why civil resistance works, and orients students with the strategies and skills require to make a civil resistance campaign more sustainable. Students will learn historical records of the efficacy and potentials of nonviolent conflict that brought positive outcome, side by side know about the unsuccessful cases. Participants will also be informed about the catalytic civil resistance episodes that brought major political transformation in South Asia. In particular, students will gain substantive knowledge on Bangladeshi people’s nonviolent struggles of both pre- and post-independence periods.

Nemo graduated with an engineering degree from a university in Yangon in 2016. My knowledge about nonviolent civil resistance was minimal until the military coup in February 2021. After the coup, I started reading books by Dr. Gene Sharp about nonviolent resistance and people power. In May 2021, I co-founded Freedom Fighter Myanmar with a few friends in order to spread public awareness about the elements of an effective civil resistance. I facilitate research, training and discussions to promote capacity building for grassroots people using a bottom-up approach.

Course Title: Essentials of People Power and Civil Resistance

Course Abstract: In this 24-days course, we will study the foundations of civil resistance and its strategies and tactics. Essential elements of nonviolent resistance such as sources of power will be introduced and the mechanisms which ordinary people can utilize to bring about change will be explained. The course language will be Burmese with all required texts and videos provided in Burmese translations. The last part of the course will focus on the contemporary people’s resistance in Myanmar where the participants are given an opportunity to apply what they have learned and contribute to the revolution through peer discussions.

 

Lili Soo has been a teacher and activist for more than a decade, and finished his education in the United Kingdom.

Lili has been engaged in human rights cause from perspectives of academic study too. Lili has studied courses related to human rights theories (with a focus on immigrants) from Oxford University as well as the theories of activism from ICNC.

Lili Soo has been sharing his knowledge on social media platforms such as Telegram, Twitter, and YouTube. His teachings have drawn interest from thousands of people of multiple backgrounds, including students, young professionals, and activists from around the world.

Course Title: Theory and Practices of Activism

Course Abstract: The course aims to inform the learners of what is activism, how and why activism in peaceful ways, including ‘subversions of governments’ or ‘colored revolutions’, as termed and criminalized by authoritarian regimes, is legitimate in international societies as well as legally protected and supported worldwide along with solid histories and relevant academic researches. The course also aims to help the learners with their attempts of developing their strategies of future activism. The course welcomes participants from all backgrounds, with or without higher educational experiences. Out of security concerns, the course encourages all applicants to use protonmail.com (or proton.me) for all the future communications from applications through studies.

Xavier Majó Roca was born in 1959 in Arenys de Munt (30 miles north of Barcelona). Since my youth I have been involved in actions against militarism (I was conscientious objector in 1985, I campaigned against Spain becoming member of NATO in 1986 and since 1990 I am a fiscal objector to the Government budget for the Ministry of Defence (military defence). Last years I have manly been involved in the pro-independence Catalan movement and occasionally participating in actions against climate change and militarism. I am member of Lluitanoviolenta.cat that promotes nonviolent methods for struggling for Justice and Human Rights. I have been teaching nonviolence for 4 years. Apart from self-training, I have been trained by the International Institute for Nonviolent Action (NOVACT) and by the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC).

Course Title: Nonviolence: Strategy and Methods to Fight for Civil Rights and Justice

Course Abstract: The course will be an introduction to nonviolence. From “what nonviolent struggle really is” to “why nonviolent struggle can be more effective”, with a detailed description of the methods and strategy of how nonviolent action is developed and evaluated. In addition, the sources of power of the adversary and how to build power from a nonviolent standpoint will be described. How to strengthen and care for the organization, and the historical roots and leaders of nonviolence.

Fostering a Fourth Democratic Wave

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The Fostering a Fourth Democratic Wave project seeks to catalyze support for nonviolent pro-democracy movements fighting against authoritarian rule.


 

Fostering a Fourth Democratic Wave is a joint project between the Atlantic Council and the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC), aimed at catalyzing support for nonviolent pro-democracy movements fighting against authoritarian rule. If democracies are to prevail in an era of great power competition, they need an actionable, evidence-based plan for pushing back on authoritarianism and supporting a new wave of democratic transitions, which we refer to as the “Fourth Democratic Wave.”

The project recognizes that civil resistance movements—using tactics such as strikes, boycotts, civil disobedience, and a range of other nonviolent tactics—are one of the most powerful forces for democracy worldwide and therefore central to reversing the last fifteen years of democratic recession.  The projected resulted in the report Fostering a Fourth Democratic Wave: A Playbook for Countering the Authoritarian Threat, that centers on steps that the US and its allies can take to support pro-democracy civil resistance movements, which are at the core of democratic transitions.

The Playbook: 

1. Proposes new approaches and tools to support civil resistance movements.

2. Advances a new international norm — the “Right to Assistance” to pro-democracy movements — and identifes steps to advance and implement it.

3. Develops strategic and tactical options to constrain authoritarian regimes and drive up the cost of their repression.

Key activities:

Fostering a Fourth Democratic Wave: A Playbook for Countering the Authoritarian Threat
The playbook will draw on cutting edge research to articulate effective strategic and tactical options.

Workshops
Engage scholars, experts, and activists on democracy and human rights across all major regions to address topics critical to effective international support for civil resistance movements.

 

Webinar: How Agent Provocateurs Harm Our Movements—And What Can Be Done About It

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With Dr. Steve Chase

January 18, 2022

Webinar Content

Introduction of Speaker: 0:00 – 4:42
Presentation: 4:43 – 55:38
Questions & Answers: 55:39 – 1:19:04

Webinar Details

Opponents of civil resistance movements use a variety of repressive strategies.

One of their longstanding practices is the use of agent provocateurs—people who infiltrate movements by pretending to be activists. These provocateurs then work to create disunity and scandals, disrupt effective strategic thinking, lower participation, and promote or engage in vandalism and violence that can be blamed on the movement. As Erica Chenoweth notes in her book Civil Resistance: What Everyone Should Know, “Their ultimate aim… is to banish public sympathy and support for the movement while giving the government justification for heavy-handed tactics such as beatings, mass arrests, or lethal-coercion.”

In this webinar, Steve Chase, the author of ICNC Press’s new publication How Agent Provocateurs Harm Our Movements, shares historical examples of agents provocateurs; challenges sincere but unstrategic activists who mimic damaging agent provocateur-like behavior; and explores how movements can minimize the harm of such behavior and increase their chances of success. As he writes, “My hope is that this examination will encourage civil resistance organizers to think more deeply about what can be done to minimize the negative impact of agent provocateurs and agent provocateur-like behavior on movements for peace, justice, human rights, and sustainability.”

About the Presenter:

Steve Chase is a long-time activist, educator, and writer. He has been an editor at South End Press, the founding director of Antioch University’s master’s level activist training program in Advocacy for Social Justice and Sustainability, and the Manager of Academic Initiatives for the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict. He is currently the Assistant Director of Solidarity 2020 and Beyond, a solidarity network and community of practice for grassroots movement organizers in the Global South  using advocacy, peacebuilding, and nonviolent resistance to win sustainability, rights, freedom, and justice.

Questions and Answers

In the webinar session, there were questions that were asked for which we did not have time to address. Steve Chase has provided written responses to these questions below:

Do you have examples of agent provocateurs targeting feminist movements?

The FBI’s COINTELPRO program certainly targeted various feminist organizations, but I am not sure how much of the repressive activity against these organizations involved agent provocateurs. It seems likely, but I haven’t seen any research on this. This is a great area to look into, both in the US and elsewhere. That would be a great contribution.

Has the bar for “demonizing” a movement moved over time? It seems like nonviolent civil disobedience is sometimes treated as comparable to violence, at least in the US media.

There is a constant struggle over how various forms of civil resistance are portrayed by power elites in mass media and under law. It is in an oppressive power elite’s strategic interest to demonize its active citizenry. For example, in the US, federal law defines nonviolent boycotts against companies engaged in animal cruelty as terrorism. Similarly, several US states have adopted laws that equate boycotts targeting Israeli violations of Palestinian human rights as tantamount to antisemitism and terrorism. It is not accurate or fair, but this effort at demonization is a common challenge in the struggle for justice. For more on this, I would suggest activists and organizers read Brian Martin’s Backfire Manual: Tactics Against Injustice. Brian offers several good ideas on how movements can counteract or mitigate the power of these very common, but false characterizations.

How does a movement handle a situation where the lead organizer is compromised and becomes an agent provocateur?

There are documented cases where authorities have pressured, blackmailed, or tortured formerly sincere activists into acting as informers and agent provocateurs. An organizer I know who worked in El Salvador in the 1980s told me how when labor activists there were released from jail after being tortured by authorities, their union comrades did two key things: 1) these comrades would relieve the tortured leader from organizational decisions for a time, and 2) they would interview the potentially compromised leader in a compassionate, but firm way about what the leader may have revealed to authorities or what promises were made to get released. They reassured the person that there wouldn’t be retaliation and they understood the pressure the tortured leader was under, but said the movement needed to know. This approach often led to a positive resolution of the problem. That said, focusing on counter-productive and unstrategic behavior, regardless of motivation, is probably the best way for activists and organizers to inoculate themselves against compromised leadership in most cases. If there is well-documented evidence of a leader being an agent provocateur, this can and should be shared with the membership. Such charges without strong evidence, though, can harm a movement. When unsure, focus on the problematic behavior and decisions without charging someone with being an agent provocateur. It is important to remember that a common tactic of agent provocateurs is to make unsubstantiated charges against innocent activists and calling them informants or agent provocateurs in order to create conflicts, fear, and distrust in movement organizations.

What would you say to activists who quote Malcolm X to justify violent tactics that might backfire against a movement and increase the likelihood of failure?

First, I think it is important to recognize that Malcolm X was a gifted human rights leader with much wisdom to offer activists and organizers today. At the same time, I think it is important to look critically at his strategic suggestions about movement violence. Take, for example, Malcolm X’s widely quoted 1964 “Ballots or Bullets” speech. In that influential talk, Malcolm X rightly critiqued the racist, “so-called democracy” of the United States, which had long denied voting rights to millions of black people and attacked human rights activists with police guns, dogs, clubs, tear gas, rigged courts, and prisons—as well as defended an exploitive world order through massive militarism and violence around the world. Under these circumstances, Malcolm X wisely rejected relying only on “ballots” for creating a just, multi-racial, and democratic society that did more than give lip service to the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. He rightly sensed the need for more powerful popular resistance.

In his talk, however, he argued that the best way forward was increasing the use of Molotov cocktails, hand grenades, bullets, and urban guerrilla warfare in the Black Freedom Movement. There is no indication, though, that Malcom X ever seriously studied civil resistance history, its underlying theory of power, or its strategy and tactics—let alone the relative effectiveness of civil resistance compared to armed struggle. Toward the end of his remarkable life, he was very strong on analysis and vision, but less strong on strategy because of this.

Also, it is important to note that he wasn’t speaking all that strategically when he argued for more violence in the US Black Freedom Movement. He was mostly talking about his emotional response to witnessing so much anti-black oppression and violence. As Malcolm said in his talk, “When you drop that violence on me, then you’ve made me insane and I am not responsible for what I do.” That is emotionally understandable, and we can all deeply empathize with his horror at the racist violence against oppressed people he saw everywhere around him. At the same time, today’s activists and organizers have good reason to doubt if such emotions are a good basis for assessing what might be the most effective way for movements to achieve their goals. This is particularly true when we now know, as I and several others have documented, that agent provocateurs routinely instigate or encourage violent tactics within social movements by exploiting such emotions in order to make sincere movement participants act in ways that the provocateurs believe will make social movements smaller, weaker, and easier to defeat. We should not take that bait.

Recommended Reading

How Agent Provocateurs Harm Our Movements by Steve Chase

“How to Counter the Growing Threat of Agent Provocateurs” by George Lakey

“Agent Provocateurs as a Type of Faux Activist” by Gary T. Marx

“Nigeria: How Agents Provocateurs Triggered Government Repression During the #EndSARS Movement” by Amos Oluwatoye

“What Can We Learn from Agent Provocateurs?” by Steve Chase

“Licensed to Kill…Discourse? Agents Provocateurs and a Purposive Right to Freedom of Expression” by Katie Pentney

 

ICNC High School Curriculum Fellowship 2018/2019

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Image for JuliaICNC is launching its third round of a grant program for high school educators from around the world to support the development and implementation of civil resistance education for high school students in fall 2018 and winter/spring 2019. This can be used to help create and run a stand-alone course or a segment or unit within a course during  Summer or Fall 2018 or Spring 2019.

The application deadline: July 6, 2018.

Before applying, check for more information about the Fellowship by reviewing the following sections :

Fellowship Award
What Kind of Curriculum Development Project Will Be Considered
Why Teach Civil Resistance in High School
Eligibility
Time Frame for Teaching
Language of Instruction
Fellowship Requirement
Required Documentation
Resources in Support of Curriculum Proposal Development
Funds Distribution

Check also the profiles of our past High School Fellows

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Fellowship Award

The support grant is in the amount of $1,000 and will be offered for up to 8 motivated educators who will embark on the task of developing and teaching a curriculum on nonviolent civil resistance to high school students in either fall semester of 2018 or winter and spring 2019. All Highschool Curriclum Fellows also receive both educational resources and curriculum advice from ICNC staff

What Kind of Curriculum Development Projects Will Be Considered

Selected fellows will either teach a whole course on nonviolent civil resistance or integrate a significant unit on civil resistance movements for rights, freedom, and justice into an existing or new course. ICNC is open to various curriculum options, but would, at a minimum, like to see something approaching  five or six, 45 to 55-minute long curriculum units related to civil resistance movement history, strategy, tactics, and effectiveness. Besides accepting proposals for adding civil resistance content into a Fellow’s existing social science courses, or creating a self-standing seminar on civil resistance as part of the high school senior/junior curriculum, we are open to proposals for extracurricular, after-school seminars as well. We want substance and significance, but do not what to constrain the Fellowship participants creativity about delivery models that suit their schools and students.

Why to Teach Civil Resistance in High School

Civil resistance education is emerging as an important element of the college-level educational experience, with a growing number of courses on civil resistance offered at various universities, including in the areas of conflict, peace and security studies, political science, international relations and sociology. As an interdisciplinary topic, civil resistance intersects various academic disciplines: politics, history, sociology, social-psychology, international relations. A specialized course on civil resistance for high school students can offer them knowledge and skills that are relevant to future advanced studies in broadly understood social sciences.

At the same time, high school students who may be interested in careers in foreign policy, government, community organizing, or civil society organizations can find a course on civil resistance to be a career-oriented learning opportunity. As nonviolent civil resistance movements increasingly shape international affairs and domestic politics in countries around the world, government and civic actors, as well as journalists, are increasingly likely to encounter this phenomenon in their work. In such cases, knowledge about civil resistance movements can constitute an additional career advantage. Such a course may also enhance the students’ skills and commitment to be active citizens in their communities.

Eligibility

Educators with teaching experience from:

  • Public/state high schools
  • Charter high schools
  • Private high schools
  • After or out-of-school programs and enrichment organizations working with high school-aged students

can apply for the ICNC High School Curriculum Fellowship.

Time Frame for Teaching

Fellows are expected to set up and teach the course either in Fall and Winter 2018 or Spring 2019.

Language of Reporting and Instruction

  • Application documents (e.g. application for, syllabus proposal, CV) must be in English
  • Reporting to ICNC (two reports with requested documentation will be due at the beginning and end of the course) must be done in English regardless of the language of instruction
  • Non-English languages of instruction can be considered provided there are enough translated readings on civil resistance in a specific language; or if a fellow takes it upon him/herself to translate relevant English-language texts

Fellowship Requirement

Required Teaching Load

  • Fellows have to develop and teach a curriculum on civil resistance during their fellowship period that proves substantive and significant, and roughly consist of a minimum of 5 or 6 class units, each at least 45 minutes long, that will be distributed over several weeks to give students ample time to reflect on the material, review assigned readings, participate meaningfully in classroom discussions, and be able to complete written or oral homework. (see also Class Type)

Acceptable Student Grade Level

The class can be open to:

  • high school seniors (final year of high school; 17-18 years old),
  • high school juniors (two years prior to high school graduation; 16-17 years old) and, possibly,
  • high school sophomores (three years prior to high school graduation; 15-16 years old), provided that seats are not filled by seniors or juniors that must be given preference in enrollment.

Required Enrollment Numbers

  • A minimum of 12 students will need to enroll and attend the class. Preference must be given to high school seniors and juniors though, if seats remain available, the class can be opened to interested high school sophomores

Possible Class Type

  • integrated curriculum units covering the rough minimum equivalent of six, 45-minute long units on civil resistance over a minimum of a 6 week period that are integrated into an existing social science course (e.g., Politics, Civics, Sociology, History, Geography)

or

  • a self-standing mandatory or elective course on civil resistance with the rough minimum equivalent of six, 45-minute long units on civil resistance, distributed over a minimum of 6 weeks

or

  • a seminar on civil resistance organized as part of a social science club, after school, or enrichment program or study club: a minimum of six, 45-minute long, units on civil resistance, distributed over a minimum of 6 weeks

Required Documentation

I. Completed online application with applicant’s CV included

II. Curriculum/syllabus proposal on civil resistance that at a minimum includes the following topics with relevant readings and class assignments:

  • Defining civil resistance and movements: What are they and what are they not? (with a possible focus on misconceptions about civil resistance)
  • Civil resistance in history: historical cases of nonviolent civil resistance movements and campaigns, which may include international, national, or sub-national examples. Examination of the origin and emergence, conduct, impact and aftermath of these movements and campaigns
  • The record and effectiveness of civil resistance movements: What have they achieved, and what is their historic success rate?
  • Strategies and tactics of civil resistance campaigns

Additional possible topics include:

  • Playing the computer-based game People Power throughout the duration of the course as part of the student home assignment. See the instructions on how to integrate the game into the course.
  • Examining the dynamics of civil resistance including but not limited to how populations unify, mobilize, resist repression and cause it to backfire, engage in public communications, gain defections from their opponents, choose tactics and strategies.

In the proposed curriculum/syllabus:

  1. Specify the structure of the envisioned curriculum delivery plan
  2. Provide descriptions for each of the session topics (in addition, you might include questions that will be explored/discussed for each topic session)
  3. List relevant readings (on average 15-20 pages of reading per week) for each session and any assignments and classwork that will be expected for a specific session or sessions as well as any midterm or final assignments
  4. Include a sample of the course assignments relevant to the subject of civil resistance that students will be required to complete during the course and the information on how these assignments will be evaluated/assessed. Possible final essay could assess a civil resistance campaign along the lines of “How ‘powerless’ youth and others helped organize ‘people power’ toward change in a public, institutional, or corporate policy”
  5. Utilize the resources listed below in developing your syllabus/curriculum proposal

Resources in Support of Curriculum Proposal Development

In developing the curriculum proposal on civil resistance applicants are encouraged to review the following resources:

Documentaries

Selected chapters from the following books can be considered for reading assignments for the senior and junior high schoolers:

  • Peter Ackerman and Jack DuVall, A Force More Powerful: A Century of Nonviolent Conflict (New York: Macmillan, 2000)
  • Maciej Bartkowski, ed. Recovering Nonviolent History. Civil Resistance in Liberation Struggles (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2013)
  • Shaazka Beyerle, Curtailing Corruption. People Power for Accountability and Justice (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2014)
  • Kurt Schock, Civil Resistance Today, (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2015)

More advanced core reading on civil resistance includes:

  • Erica Chenoweth and Maria Stephan, Why Civil Resistance Works. The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict (New York: Columbia University Press, 2011)

Additional resources

 

Required Fellowship Documents If Accepted

As part of the grant award, fellows will also be expected to prepare, among others:

  • learning gains instrument(s) prior to the start of the course to be used to monitor and assess progress in students’ learning about civil resistance. Review the learning gains templates that will need to be customized depending on the developed course content on civil resistance:
  • final course evaluation with students’ feedback on the course content on civil resistance. Review a template of a final course evaluation that will need to be customized according to the course content developed as part of the accepted curriculum proposal
  • final report to be submitted to ICNC after the course ends on the delivered content, including any innovative teaching tools used, students’ learning gains (how they were measured and what the results were), results of students’ final evaluation, and student feedback on the game or other relevant course exercises, and general lessons learnt

Funds Distribution

The funds for the Fellowship will be disbursed in two equal installments:

  • at the beginning of the course, after the submission of the updated syllabus and the confirmation of the enrollment numbers and list of students
  • at the end of the course after the submission of the final report and evaluation results

 

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The Dynamics of Civil Resistance

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Speaker: Jack DuVall / President, International Center on Nonviolent Conflict

Date: Sunday, June 15th, 2014
Time: 7:30pm – 9:30pm

Description: The modern practice of civil resistance sprang from new ideas about the underlying nature of political power that began to be framed about 170 years ago. As later developed and applied by Gandhi, and then adapted through use in scores of movements and campaigns for rights and justice in recent decades, strategic nonviolent action has exhibited a common dynamic, propelled historic changes, and helped impart political and social properties to the societies in which such movements operated.

The success of civil resistance in liberating oppressed people, when compared to violent insurgency or revolution, has been extraordinary – and is doubtless why it is now being increasingly censured by numerous authoritarian regimes and by ideologues that favor change led by vanguards. But today’s “people power” movements continue to evolve rapidly as a historically new force in human affairs, and they may augur significant change not only in the way in which power is developed but also in how the legitimacy and vibrancy of democracies can be regenerated.

Watch the Presentation
Download Additional Resources
Join the Conversation

Watch the Presentation:
Video not displaying properly? Click here to view on YouTube.
Additional Resources:

Ackerman, Peter & DuVall, Jack. The Right to Rise Up: People Power and the Virtues of Civil Disruption. Fletcher Forum, 2006.
DuVall, Jack. Civil Resistance and the Language of Power. OpenDemocracy.net. November 19, 2010
DuVall, Jack. Why Learn about Civil Resistance? (interview). June, 2009.
Merriman, Hardy.  Why Learn about Civil Resistance? (interview). June, 2009.
Zunes, Stephen – Why Learn About Civil Resistance? (interview). June, 2009.

How Agent Provocateurs Harm Our Movements

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By Steve Chase
Date of Publication: November 2021
Free Download: English | Spanish | Turkish
Purchase a Print Copy
Purchase an e-book (Nook | Kindle)

“Steve Chase’s book is valuable in this new period when governments are likely to plant agent provocateurs. Steve’s alternatives to ‘security culture’ (which breaks down trust we need for strong movement organizations) become all the more important.”
– George Lakey, Author of How We Win: A Guide to Nonviolent Direct Action Campaigning

History shows us that peoples’ movements are more likely to suc­ceed when they have unity among supporters, widespread participa­tion, strategic planning, and non­violent discipline. Unsurprisingly, movement opponents use agent provocateurs—fake activists work­ing undercover—to behave in counterproductive ways that undermine these four keys to success.

Drawing from international exam­ples and an in-depth case study of the US Black Liberation Movement, this volume explores how agent provocateurs—and agent provoca­teur-like behavior—make movements smaller, weaker, and easier to de­feat. It also offers some ideas for how activists can inoculate their movements against such harms and increase their chances of success.

Watch the Webinar Recording: On January 18, 2022, Steve Chase presented a webinar on his book and facing the challenge of agent provocateurs. Watch the video.

About the Author

Steve Chase is a long-time activist, educator, and writer. He has been an editor at South End Press, the founding director of Antioch University’s master’s level activist training program in Advocacy for Social Justice and Sustainability, and the Manager of Academic Initiatives for the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict. He is currently the Assistant Director of Solidarity 2020 and Beyond, a solidarity network and community of practice for grassroots movement organizers in the Global South  using advocacy, peacebuilding, and nonviolent resistance to win sustainability, rights, freedom, and justice. He is also a contributor to Minds of the Movement and Waging Nonviolence.

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Reviews and Commentary

“How to Counter the Growing Threat of Agent Provocateurs” by George Lakey, Waging Nonviolence

“Review: Protecting Movements from Infiltrators” by Arnie Alpert, InZaneTimes

“What Can We Learn from Agent Provocateurs” by Steve Chase, Minds of the Movement

“Michael Beer’s Review of Steve Chase’s Book on Agent Provocateurs” by Michael Beer, Nonviolence International

“Fighting Agents Provocateurs Nonviolently” (an interview with Steve Chase), Northern Spirit Radio

 

How Nonviolent Movements Increase Pressure on a State Through Demand Escalation

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With Dr. Sooyeon Kang

Tuesday, September 21, 2021

Webinar Details:

ICNC was pleased to host Dr. Sooyeon Kang, an ICNC 2020 research fellow, to discuss her recent research into how nonviolent movements escalate their demands against a regime.

In places as diverse as Algeria, Chile, Ecuador, Hong Kong, France, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Sudan, people first came together to seek redress in a certain policy area only to then escalate their demands for a leader’s removal or seeking greater systemic change. This “demand escalation” by nonviolent movements is not unique to the current generation or limited to a certain regime type, or a specific geographical region.

How does a group of people go from asking something of the government to demanding that it must go? Dr. Kang argues that movements are more likely to escalate their demands when the state responds to the initial nonviolent action with a disproportionate use of force. Repression expands the grievances of the protesters and betrays the remaining trust that people might have had in the government. Kang’s quantitative analysis demonstrates that demand escalation allows nonviolent campaigns to increase pressure on the government without resort to violence.

About the Presenter:

Sooyeon Kang is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Mershon Center for International Security Studies (Ohio State University) and a non-resident Fellow at the Carr Center for Human Rights (Harvard Kennedy School). She received her doctorate from the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver, and was a 2020-2021 Peace Scholar Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace and a Doctoral Research Fellow at the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict. Her research interests include mass mobilization, political violence, political psychology, and all things North Korea. She holds an MA in International Affairs from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and a BA in Government and Psychology from Dartmouth College.

Recommended Reading:

“Demand Escalation: How Nonviolent Movements Raise the Heat on Powerholders” by Sooyeon Kang

“Algerians Adopt Civil Resistance to Push for Political Change” by Mohamed Nabil Bennaidja

“A Civil Resistance Awakening in Latin America?” by María Gabriela Mata Carnevali

“Can Hong Kong Be Free Again After the 2020 Crackdown?” by Victoria Tin-bor Hui

“PétroCaribe: Haitian Hope and the Struggle against Corruption” by Gregory François and Jean Sonel Basquin

“The Anatomy of Sudan’s Democratic Revolution—One Year Later” by Stephen Zunes

A LEGNAGYOBB ELLENÁLLÁS ÚTJA: ÚTMUTATÓ ERŐSZAKMENTES KAMPÁNYOK TERVEZÉSÉHEZ

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Szerző: Ivan Marovic
Fordította: Misetics Bálint, június 2021
Eredetileg megjelent: ICNC Press, 2018

Letöltés (második kiadás): Magyar | Angol | Fényesít | Vietnami

Letöltés (első kiadás): Spanyol | Katalán | Francia | Portugál (brazil) | Urdu

A legnagyobb ellenállás útja: Az erőszakmentes kampányok tervezésének lépésről-lépésre szóló útmutatója gyakorlati útmutató azoknak az aktivistáknak és szervezőknek minden szinten, akik ellenállási tevékenységüket stratégiaibb, határozott idejű kampánnyá akarják terjeszteni. Végigvezeti az olvasókat a kampánytervezési folyamaton, több lépésre bontva, és minden lépéshez eszközöket és gyakorlatokat biztosít. A könyv elkészültével az olvasók megkapják, amire szükségük van, hogy társaikat eligazítsák a kampány tervezésének folyamatán. Ez a folyamat az útmutatóban leírtak szerint a kezdetektől a végéig körülbelül 12 órát vesz igénybe.

Az útmutató két részre oszlik. Az első meghatározza és kontextusba helyezi a kampánytervezés eszközeit és céljaikat. Ez megmagyarázza ezen eszközök logikáját és azt, hogy miként lehet őket módosítani, hogy jobban megfeleljenek egy adott csoport kontextusának. A második rész könnyen reprodukálható és megosztható óraterveket tartalmaz az egyes eszközök használatához, valamint feltárja, hogyan lehet beágyazni az eszközöket a szélesebb tervezési folyamatba.

 

 

Webinar: Civil Resistance Against Climate Change: What’s Happening and What Works?

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by authors Robyn Gulliver and Winnifred R. Louis

July 21, 2021

Webinar Content

Introduction of Speakers: 0:00–3:30
Presentation: 3:31–25:25
Questions and Answers: 25:26–1:02:14

Webinar Description

ICNC hosted Robyn Gulliver and Winnifred Louis to discuss their forthcoming monograph, co-written with Kelly Fielding, Civil Resistance Against Climate Change (tentative title). Civil resistance against climate change burst onto the world stage in 2019 with nonviolent actions by Extinction Rebellion and Fridays for Future generating widespread international media coverage. But nonviolent action against climate change has been taking place in many countries for many decades. What can this past experience tell us about the capacity for nonviolent action to help stop the drivers of climate change? In this webinar the learnings from extensive empirical research on the Australian environmental movement are discussed to help answer this question. Beginning with an overview of the groups which engage in climate change civil resistance and the tactics they use, the presenters then discuss the extent to which this activity is succeeding in achieving its goals. The webinar also includes a discussion of the dynamics and outcomes of one of two case study campaigns (the Stop Adani anti-coal mine campaign), before concluding with consideration of how different levels of the Australian government is responding to climate change related civil resistance.

About the Presenters and Authors

Robyn Gulliver is a multi-award winning environmentalist, writer, and researcher who has served as an organizer and leader of numerous local and national environmental organizations. Born in New Zealand, she has spent the last decade advocating for and writing about environmental issues for activist groups, local councils, not-for-profit organizations, and academia.

 

 

 

Winnifred R. Louis is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Queensland, Australia. Her research interests focus on the influence of identity and norms on social decision-making. She has studied this broad topic in contexts from political activism to peace psychology to health and the environment.

 

 

 

 

Kelly Fielding is a Professor of Environmental Psychology at the University of Queensland in the School of Communication and Arts. Her research focuses broadly on understanding the social and psychological determinants of environmental sustainability. She seeks to understand environmental decisions and behaviors and to develop communication and behavior change strategies that can promote greater environmental sustainability.

Recommended Readings

“Marginalized Communities Are the Frontline Leaders of 2020’s Environmental Movements” by Michael Wilson Becerril

“Reflection on Civil Resistance and ARRCC” by Jason MacLeod

“When the Bombs Drop, School Stops: Eight Decades of Australian School Strikes and Direct Action” by Iain McIntyre

Thirty Years of Creative Resistance: Friends of the Earth Australia by Cam Walker

Webinar: How Does Trust Shape Civil Resistance? Initial Evidence from Africa

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June 30, 2021

with author Jacob S. Lewis

 

Webinar Content

Introduction of Speaker: 0:00–4:05
Presentation: 4:06–28:17
Questions & Answers: 28:18–55:51

Webinar Description

ICNC is pleased to host Dr. Jacob S. Lewis, the author of the forthcoming monograph How Social Trust Shapes Civil Resistance: Lessons from Africa. Democratic backsliding around the world has highlighted the importance of nonviolent civil resistance as a method of protecting and seeking democracy. One core component in both collective action and democracy is social trust, yet there has been comparatively little research on the role that social trust plays in shaping the onset and maintenance of civil resistance. Drawing evidence from Africa, this study examines two questions. First, do higher levels of social trust correlate with higher willingness to participate in nonviolent protests? This study finds that high-trusting individuals are more likely to report a willingness to engage in nonviolent protest, and verifies this by analyzing real-world data on protests. Second, does trust correspond with increased preferences for nonviolent action? This study analyzes data on the relationship between trust and justifications for political violent action and finds that high-trusting individuals are less willing to justify the use of violent action than low-trusting individuals. The study then verifies these individual-level findings by examining real-world data on proportional levels of violent and nonviolent conflict.

About the Presenter

Jacob Lewis is an Assistant Professor of Global Politics in the School of Politics, Philosophy, and Public Affairs at Washington State University. His research centers on conflict processes and political psychology in the African context. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland and has worked extensively in the fields of international development and public policy.

 

Recommended Readings

“The Future of Nonviolent Resistance” by Erica Chenoweth

“Connecting Civil Resistance and Conflict Resolution” by Maria J. Stephan and T. Thompson

“What Nonviolent Struggles against Authoritarianism Can Learn from Movements across Africa” by Phil Wilmot

“How Sudan’s Pro-Democracy Uprising Challenges Prevailing Myths about Civil Resistance” by Stephen Zunes

“Rural Ugandan Youth Turn to Direct Action, and It’s Curbing Deforestation” by Phil Wilmot