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.

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. […]

“One year ago, the Venezuelan people were disheartened and apathetic. Since then, we have built the foundations of a broad-based opposition to the regime—and one with a powerful, peaceful, and organized agenda for pushing for change. […]”

Last month, Kenyan media undermined a nonviolent movement against extrajudicial killings by propagating a harmful news story involving an activist. The media attack forced the movement to deal with humiliation, shame, and social polarization, instead of focusing on its struggle for justice. But the movement is now picking up the pieces and finding ways to bounce back from the attack. […]

Would suffering from Perpetration-Induced Traumatic Stress (PITS) symptoms make agents of repression more likely to defect, or less? Do those suffering from PITS find defection to be a good therapy, and if so, is there a way of using this knowledge to encourage defections? […]

Anti-corruption movements, campaigns, and civic initiatives have become a familiar phenomenon in civil resistance and reform-oriented uprisings in many countries, particularly in the Global South. But what specific tactics and broader approach can people utilize to turn an anti-corruption movement into real change?

With the growth of online courses on civil resistance comes the challenge of measuring and assessing their impact. To this end, ICNC developed and conducts different surveys to evaluate its online courses that may serve as a useful template to others. This blog post shares the instruments we use to measure the impact of online education and the real changes we can discern from this work.

Since 2012, Solidarity Uganda has grown from a local volunteer collective in a remote farming community to an international network supporting grassroots resistance movements in over 70 countries. I hope the below tips—derived from Solidarity Uganda’s victories and shortcomings—can assist those walking similar paths, and help progressive funders understand what to look for in movement-minded organizations. […]

For over a decade, ICNC grantee Ahouty Kouakou and his colleagues from two civil society groups have been engaged in a nonviolent struggle for disability rights in Côte d’Ivoire, a small Francophone country in West Africa. Parting with the bleak Parisian winter last December, I thawed out during a three-day site visit to the country’s economic capital, Abidjan […]