Когда граждане в борьбе за демократию оказывают гражданское сопротивление авторитарному правлению, как им могут помочь сотрудники правоохранительных органов, внутренней безопасности, разведывательных служб и военнослужащие страны? […]

“Dictatorships project unwavering discipline when they exercise—or aspire to exercise—enduring control over their societies. In response, movements must work on honing and harnessing their own discipline. Being more disciplined than their opponents gives movements an edge in winning. Discipline is a behavior that is learned and perfected through practice and training. It has less to do with command and control structures through which orders are given or punitive sanctions are exercised. […]”

“The September 2020 pardon of U.S. Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton for the killing of a young Filipina transgender woman, Jennifer Laude, served as a public reminder that a U.S. military presence remains in the Philippines years after the last actual U.S. base was closed in 1992. Protests against the killing, led by local LGBTQ+ and women’s rights groups, erupted in the aftermath of both the original crime in 2014 and Pemberton’s recent pardon. The movement, known as Scrap the VFA!, provides lessons for other nonviolent movements, particularly those with less visible or moving targets (such as financial corruption). […]”

Discussion has grown for months about how the upcoming U.S. election results could be contested and possibly subverted. No one knows for certain what will happen, but there are precedents we can learn from about how attempts to overturn election results have been stopped. Four cases in recent decades—one in Southeast Asia, one in Africa and the other two in Eastern Europe—involved an incumbent president or party attempting to steal an election only to have it reversed through large-scale nonviolent direct action. This article looks at these cases, and identifies key lessons. […]

Podczas wielu moich spotkań z ludźmi z całego świata, wielokrotnie zadawano mi pytanie, jak można doprowadzić do masowej mobilizacji obywateli w społeczeństwie, które jest zdemobilizowane? Innymi słowy, w jaki sposób przekształcić sprzeciw niewielkiej grupy w opór wielu? Pytanie to często wynika z frustracji aktywistów wywołanej istniejącą ich zdaniem apatią ogółu, […]

Exactly one year ago, Lebanese took to the streets in massive rallies under the renowned slogan kilon yaani kilon (“all means all”), denouncing the country’s corrupt oligarchy. These unprecedented protests were leaderless and decentralized, both in urban and rural areas, and carried a message of hope and unity that condemned the sectarian and divisive agenda of the ruling class. Commentators coined the term “October Revolution” to define these protests, giving the impression that it would result in a transition of power. […]

Mon engagement dans la résistance nonviolente à l’oppression sociale et politique à laquelle j’ai été confronté dès ma naissance a commencé d’abord par le questionnement que j’adressais à mon environnement familial mais aussi à mes maitres d’école. Ces derniers lisaient d’ailleurs dans les questions que je leur posais une forme de rébellion en herbe ou de remise en cause des assertions sociales et religieuses. S’en est suivi l’activisme au sein de mouvements d’élèves et d’étudiants contestataires, et l’encadrement de communautés villageoises faisant face à l’arbitraire de suzerains religieux et des féodalités terriennes. […]

“Dans notre culture, le passage d’un cercueil en ville, à pied ou à véhicule, est toujours synonyme d’une immobilisation des passants à piétons et de véhicules en circulation qui doivent absolument observer un moment de silence et des prières à la mémoire des personnes décédées et transportées en cercueil. Ce qui était le cas pour notre cercueil. Face à des gens immobilisés et assez nombreux le long de la rue, nos activistes déposent « le corps sans vie » et disparaissent dans la nature comme un éclair. La rue est en émoi ! Du jamais vu ! Est-ce un crime ? Pourquoi aurait-on déposé le cercueil et la personne décédée en plein milieu de la rue ? […]”

In our culture, when a coffin is carried down the street, pedestrians and vehicles must come to a halt to observe a moment of silence in memory of the deceased being carried. In this case, it was our coffin. In the middle of a large, motionless crowd, our activists laid down the coffin and then dispersed in a flash. The street erupted in turmoil! No one had never seen anything like it before! Had a crime been committed? Why would a coffin be placed in the middle of the street? All of these questions aroused emotion, confusion and commotion at the scene of action. […]