Village Prospérité, which regroups part of the nation of Kali’na in French Guyana along the northeastern coast of South America, is nonviolently resisting the construction of the West Guyana Power Plant (Centrale électrique de l’ouest guyanais, CEOG), a photovoltaic power plant coupled with hydrogen. The project launched in 2016 and the plant has been under construction since October 2022. Its completion is projected for 2024—unless the Kali’na nation succeeds at their objective to preserve their region from extractive-industry related degradation. […]

I began to explore the problems of West Papua during the COVID pandemic through human rights forums Amnesty International, Tapol.UK, ICNC and other sites. With the extra time I had during lockdowns in 2020 here in France, I launched the bilingual (French/English) blog, Markus Haluk Papua, on the struggle of West Papuans against Indonesian colonization, as a way to engage in activism as a member of the Indonesian diaspora in France. I have always enjoyed writing. I’m committed to using my residency in France, where freedom of expression is recognized, as an asset to this largely overlooked independence struggle. […]

With devastating violent conflicts emerging internationally in the space of three years, it is difficult—perhaps to some, even tone deaf or naïve—to write about nonviolent resistance. Readers are, understandably, less attentive right now to other forms of conflict happening in the world. Violence and war will surely but sadly endure in this human journey we are all on. This does not mean that nonviolent conflict is any less effective […]

At age 16, I initiated a youth education group, touring high schools and supporting struggling high schoolers. It was the prime of my organizing, and to date, I wish the group had had a structure and stable leadership that enabled it to hang on better after I left. But movement leadership is a dance, and it takes time to learn the steps. Being part of and eventually leading Activista Nigeria, a massive youth movement with a membership of over 10,000 young people, I saw and embodied the movement’s vision. […]

Durante una estancia de investigación en el Centro de Estudios sobre Conflictos y Paz de Hargeisa, la capital de Somaliland, en noviembre de 2022, supe de la increíble historia de cómo las mujeres lideraron un movimiento de resistencia civil por la paz, que resultó clave para la consolidación de Somaliland como estado separado de Somalia (1991-1996). […]

Tibetans, like other liberation struggles with a diaspora component, have one foot in and one foot out. Some movement actors—the diaspora and the government-in-exile—can exert pressure on the occupier from the outside. “That’s our domain, so there is pressure coming from all sides. We [MPs] are all united that we should find ways to restore freedom”, Jigdal explains to my students. On the other hand, the occupied population can exercise pressure on the occupier from the inside—if empowered to do so. […]

“It is like some diplomats only see instability when bombs fall on a presidential palace. But we Sudanese have suffered instability for over 30 years under a dictatorship…”

Last May, I helped organize a round table discussion at the annual SIPRI Forum on Peace and Development in Stockholm, Sweden. At one point, the current war in Sudan came to the fore, suggesting a general misunderstanding about nonviolent movements for rights, justice and freedom among some discussion participants. […]

Le mouvement citoyen La LUCHA a été fondé en 2012 par de jeunes Congolais frustrés par la situation dramatique de leur pays. La LUCHA a poursuivi la résistance non violente pour informer les citoyens et alimenter leur indignation, ainsi que pour rendre les personnes au pouvoir plus responsables et comptables de leurs actes. L’un des outils qu’ils utilisent s’appelle Fatshimétrie, un baromètre permettant d’évaluer le niveau de réalisation des engagements et des promesses faites par le chef de l’État pour transformer la Républic Démocratique du Congo. […]

The citizen movement LUCHA was founded in 2012 by young Congolese frustrated by the dramatic situation in their country. LUCHA pursued nonviolent resistance to inform citizens and fuel their outrage, as well as to hold those in power more responsible and accountable. One of the tools they use is called Fatshimétrie, a barometer for assessing the level of fulfilment of commitments and promises made by the head of state to transform the DRC. […]