“Choosing to repurpose one’s movement toward community needs in times of crisis has short- and long-term strategic value. In this article I share a few thoughts about how movements can build power by serving their local communities—immunizing their movements from losing momentum with a “vaccine” of constructive programs and obstructive strategies. […]”
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Thailand recently witnessed a new dawn of youth-led people power, but whether the nascent protests will morph into a nationwide movement depends on an effective strategy and a unified vision for the future. Although the Coronavirus pandemic is posing new obstacles to the movement, students are seeking alternative forms of online protest and incorporating humanitarian activism into their repertoires to build constructive relationships with communities. […]
In this article I offer a big-picture framework for how the Covid-19 crisis is impacting activism, organizing, and civil resistance movements. I hope this article, which defines four main phases I’ve observed, is helpful as movements make sense of this moment, analyze where they want to go from here, and begin planning a transition to the post-Covid-19 period. […]
Durante 2019, una ola de levantamientos mayormente noviolentos ha generado una abundancia de artículos de prensa sobre este tema, los cuales abordan cuestiones como: ¿Por qué tanta gente está protestando ahora? ¿Es parte de una tendencia mayor? ¿Existen temas comunes que impulsan estos levantamientos? ¿Adónde conducirán estos levantamientos? […]
Those of us who train and educate movements, whether in informal environments or in the classroom, would like to believe that our curriculum and how we present it directly determines the extent to which our participants thrive. While this may be partially true, these factors are far from being the most important determinants of a participant’s success. […]
For almost a decade, Macedonians have engaged in a nonviolent struggle to protect their land and air from mass pollution as a result of foreign direct investments in copper, gold, and silver mining in the Balkan state. Actions have intensified since 2017 with citizen initiatives like SOS Valandovo, Zdrava Kotlina (“Healthy Valley”), and Youth Against Stuka-Ilovica Mine of Death organizing protests and road blockades to prevent the opening of mines. They count a number of successful closures so far, but the struggle isn’t over […]
Last year was a bustling year for societies around the world that took up the cause of civil resistance. Nonviolent actions for rights, justice, and freedom were incredibly diverse, energetic, and inspiring in Latin America, where a peaceful popular awakening shook regimes, toppled governments, and captured the world’s attention. […]
Iraqis began showing their outrage in October 2019 as unemployment and poverty set root in many areas of the country, months after the government announced a controversial economic reform. Thousands have been participating in sit-ins in Tahrir and many other squares in Baghdad, Basra, as well as other areas in the southern governorates. They are outraged over almost two decades of corruption and poor public services. […]
On October 2, 2019—150 years to the day after the birth of Mohandas Gandhi—50 people from the Gandhian organization Ekta Parishad departed from the Raj Ghat memorial, dedicated to Gandhi, in Delhi. It was Day One of what will be a year-long journey on the Global March for Justice and Peace. With a jaw-dropping itinerary of 11,000 kilometers winding through 10 countries on the way to Geneva, 50 core marchers are receiving support from, and being joined by, self-organized local groups along the way. […]
In 2016, James Hansen, revered NASA Goddard Space Center climatologist and official who announced publicly in 1988, “Global warming has arrived,” stood next to me outside a North Dakota courtroom. The trial of Michael Foster, one of the five climate activists who became known as Valve Turners, was happening on the other side of the door. […]
