Minds of the Movement

Moving into 2020 calls for reflection on events and insights gained in recent years. Here are 20 key stories from Minds of the Movement—10 that were most-read by readers, and 10 picked by editors.

We hope this helps you energize and refocus for "20-20" vision in the new decade of civil resistance work!

10 MOST-READ STORIES

 

ONE

After Armenia's Velvet Revolution, New Colors and Vibes in the Country's Politics and Society

Lilit Makunts | May 10, 2018

The 2018 Velvet Revolution was different from what the people of Armenia had seen before... It drew on abundant sources of creativity, innovation, and inclusiveness, and escalated due to the spontaneous engagement of a large number of students and young people who started strikes at schools and workplaces. The element of surprise, and diversity in nonviolent tactics were key to the movement's success, as was the leadership's transparency and inclusive approach to building the movement. [Read more]

TWO

On the Inside and Out: Reflections of an Exiled Activist

Lammi Begna | Aug. 17, 2017

For more than a decade, I struggled not to be imprisoned for my nonviolent resistance against the Ethiopian government’s violence against the Oromo people. Inspirational events such as the Arab Spring Revolutions had convinced me that an activist should be brave enough to challenge the situation and show courage to make the impossible possible—that nothing is impossible when you are with the people, and the people are with you. [Read more]

THREE

Lessons of Uprisings Around the World: The Present Moment and Possible Future

Hardy Merriman | Nov. 21, 2019

A wave of largely nonviolent uprisings in 2019 has led to a profusion of media articles on this topic, examining questions such as: Why are so many people protesting now? Is this part of a larger trend? Are common issues driving these uprisings? Where will these uprisings lead? The international landscape is complicated, and the differences between the many uprisings this year are just as interesting as their commonalities. Here are some thoughts. [Read more]

FOUR

Let's Get Real! Facing Up to the Agent Provocateur Problem

Steve Chase | July 18, 2017

The term agent provocateur is French and literally translates in English to “inciting agent.” While the term may be best known today as a luxury lingerie brand, in movement circles it refers to paid government agents who infiltrate social movements and pretend to be activists. Their ultimate objectives are to decrease mass participation in the movement, decrease sympathy for the movement, and to create plausible excuses to repress the movement with increasing violence. [Read more]

FIVE

A Movement-Centered Support Model: Considerations for Human Rights Organizations, Part 1

Hardy Merriman | Apr. 30, 2018

There’s a growing effort among human rights funders and organizations to focus on supporting grassroots movements around the world. This trend is rooted in recognition that movements often play an essential role in making social, political, and economic change; that traditional models of human rights funding and support are coming under greater pressure by governments; and that alternative models of change and support are needed. [Read more]

SIX

Do Civil Resistance Movements Advance Democratization?

Maciej Bartkowski | Sept. 27, 2017

Two recent books, Social Movements and Civil War and Civil Resistance in the Arab Spring: Triumphs and Disasters, examine the aftermath of the Arab Spring, and come to the conclusion that civil resistance movements can lead to rising violence, authoritarianism and failed democratization. Yet the existing research on the short- and long-term impact of civil resistance, which is based on a large and representative sample of cases over a century, presents a different emphasis. [Read more]

SEVEN

Mindful Activism: The Power of Mindfulness in the Streets

Gabriel Dayley | Aug. 25, 2017

Decades after Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh explicitly joined activism with mindfulness-based practices in a global spotlight, activists in pockets around the world have begun to incorporate techniques of mindful attention to the present moment into their movement activities. However, public and scientific interest in mindfulness has focused heavily on benefits to individual wellbeing, and applications of mindfulness to activism have largely been limited to preventing stress and burnout. How might a formal mindfulness practice of sitting or walking with non-judgmental attention on the body and mind in the present moment enhance the effectiveness of activists and movements?  [Read more]

EIGHT

How Sudan's Pro-Democracy Uprising Challenges Prevailing Myths about Civil Resistance

Stephen Zunes | Apr. 22, 2019

A powerful pro-democracy civil insurrection in Sudan which has ousted a longstanding dictator and his successor is still in progress, but Sudanese are hopeful for a full democratic transition.  This uprising challenges a number of prevailing myths many people have in the West regarding unarmed civil insurrections. [Read more]

NINE

Strategic Nonviolence is not Civil Resistance

Peter Ackerman | Sept. 21, 2017

When developing a new field of study in the social sciences, the selection of terms for key concepts can be crucial. Certain words may evoke multiple meanings because they are filtered through a reader’s cultural experiences and personal imagination. Failure to account for this possibility can diminish the clarity of research and create unintended confusion. Moreover, vague and imprecise terminology can lead to the dismissal of important insights by those who may benefit most from them. Such is the case with using the term “nonviolence” (and its recent modification: “strategic nonviolence”) as a synonym for: civil resistance, nonviolent conflict, nonviolent resistance, and nonviolent struggle. [Read more]

TEN

Defending the Truth: An Activists Guide to Fighting Foreign Disinformation Warfare

Maciej Bartkowski | Nov. 28, 2018

Without a strategic approach to countering disinformation warfare from abroad, activists are in danger of becoming “useful innocents”—unwitting assistants for external interests bent on distorting their goals and actions, sowing discord, and undermining democratic practices and trust in democracy. As such, activists must be better prepared for the authoritarian onslaught, and An Activist’s Guide to Fighting Foreign Disinformation Warfare aims to serve just this purpose. [Read more]

 

10 EDITORS' PICKS

 

1. Russia: Inside the Nonviolent Struggle to Save the Khimki Forest
Evgeniya Chirikova | Oct. 24, 2017

When I helped found a grassroots movement called “Save Khimki Forest” in 2006, it was a bleak time for activists in Russia. People were unsure of how to build a movement on an issue like protection of the environment. All we knew was that we had to do something when the Russian government announced plans to construct a highway through the forest to connect Moscow and St. Petersburg. [Read more]

2. Repression, Resilience, and Mass Movements: A Page from Chilean History
Consuelo Amat | Dec. 1, 2017

In a matter of days Chile went from vibrant democracy to closed society after the military coup of 1973. At the time, my maternal grandfather, Carlos Matus, was Minister of the Economy and President of the Central Bank of Chile, serving under Salvador Allende. The armed forces arrested my grandfather two days after the coup and shipped him off to the southern tip of Chile, to a concentration camp on Dawson Island in the Strait of Magellan, Tierra del Fuego. [Read more]

3. Algerians Adopt Civil Resistance to Push for Political Change
Mohamed Nabil Bennaidja | Apr. 12, 2019

The record of civil resistance in Algeria so far is impressive: In just six weeks, the people have not only forced their long-term serving president to renounce pursuing a fifth term in office, but have also obtained his resignation before the end of his current mandate. Equally remarkable, Algerians have reclaimed ownership of public space to voice their political demands. [Read more]

4. To Defeat Terrorism, Use People Power
Maria Stephan & Leanne Erdberg | Mar. 28, 2018

As governments and communities seek the right combination of methods to halt terrorism, one that we too often miss is nonviolent resistance. It’s not that we haven’t seen the power of protest movements that use mass marches, sit-ins, boycotts and other forceful but nonviolent tactics. To the contrary, people worldwide have been moved by watching such movements sweep aside the walls of apartheid, the tanks of dictators or the impunity of kleptocracies. [Read more]

5. Do Military Defections Help or Hinder Pro-Democracy Civil Resistance?
Kara Kingma Neu | Oct. 4, 2018

When activists start mobilizing to pursue a transition from dictatorship to democracy in their country, they face real risks—perhaps the most serious being lethal repression at the hands of state security forces. If feeling especially threatened, the dictator may choose to deploy the military and order it to throw its weight behind ending the popular challenge. [Read more]

6. What Nonviolent Struggles against Authoritarianism Can Learn from Movements across Africa
Phil Wilmot | Nov. 26, 2019

This year, the global spotlight was briefly placed upon Sudan during its overthrow of Omar al-Bashir, and to a lesser extent, Algeria’s popular resistance to Abdelaziz Bouteflika whose 20-year rule has met its end. Yet 2019 has yielded at least nine other African political uprisings from which we can learn. [Read more]

7. How Can Civil Resistance/Social Work Integration Enhance Social Change?
Lindsay Littrell | Mar. 28, 2019

Building a two-way street between civil resistance and social work could have many benefits on individual, interpersonal, and societal levels. What could those benefits look like? Perhaps social workers could be helping clients connect with local groups doing work around issues impacting clients’ lives. [Read more]

8. Three Ways Faith and Spiritual Leaders are Shaping Movements Today
Carinne Luck | June 18, 2019

Throughout history, civil resistance movements in North America have included preachers, healers, spiritual leaders, and creative artists who have helped to rouse the public out of complacency while providing nourishment, inspiration, and consolation to those on the frontlines of the struggle. [Read more]

9. What's Next in Puerto Rico's Movement for Justice and Democracy
Sara Vazquez Melendez | Aug. 28, 2019

“This is a fight for democracy and decolonization… The people are asking for respect, transparency, and a decolonization process,” Puerto Rican activist Javier Smith Torres said. The talk of revolution, a radical change to the entire system of government, is still afoot in Puerto Rico. What has already crystallized here this summer, though, is that ordinary people have become the protagonists in their political sphere. [Read more]

10. The Meira Paibis: The Brave Mothers of Manipur at the Forefront of a Strong Nonviolent Resistance Movement
Binalakshmi "Bina" Nepram | Sept. 20, 2019

India is often referred to as the world’s largest democracy, but one may question what kind of democracy imposes martial law on its own people. The Meira Paibis (“women with bamboo torches”) of Manipur in northeast India have been organizing for decades against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), a controversial act that has spurred police impunity in the region. [Read more]

 

-

Sign up for the ICNC mailing list to receive occasional updates about our blog, translations, educational opportunities, and more.