The speaker yells to the police, “We are willing to give you a brief moment of peace. You may take your weapons and our friends and go. Please do not return.” Then, the crowd chants, “You can go! You can go!” The crowd finally leaves the police alone in a cluster, looking slightly bewildered and unsure, robbed of the kind of confrontation for which their training, armor, and weapons were designed. […]
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One of the reasons civil resistance movements and campaigns have achieved a relatively high success rate in spite of challenges is that many activists learn by doing in the midst of organizing campaigns. How can activist learning be deepened to further improve movement effectiveness? […]
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. […]
In any analysis of what drove the Standing Rock camps to implode in the winter of 2016-2017, failing to deal with cultural or racial conflict and turning a blind eye toward internal violence were prominent triggers. This article distills recommendations that can help stave off some of the most vexing internal conflicts that can metastasize like cancers in civil resistance movements. […]
What makes civil resistance movements effective? If funders and human rights organizations can identify key factors that answer this question, then their efforts can be oriented towards trying to support the development and growth of those factors. […]
In an age of fake news, in which conspiracy theories proliferate and spin doctors try to turn public attention away from major problems, it is ever more difficult to determine when an injustice is going on. Understanding the five techniques that perpetrators use to reduce outrage provide guidance for opposing injustice—for each technique, there is a counter-technique. […]
Since 2013, advocating boycotts on behalf of Palestinian rights has been illegal under Israeli law. Supporters and lobbyists for the Natanyahu government have also been working hard to pass similar laws in the United States. ICNC recently spoke about this criminalization of boycotts with Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh […]
In 2018, ICNC’s Minds of the Movement blog is rolling out a thematic series exploring important digital security questions that activists, organizers, and other practitioners often encounter in their civil resistance work. Not sure what encryption is or why it’s important to know about? Undecided about whether you should use Facebook to organize nonviolent actions? In need of a good starting point for understanding the digital security risks you and your nonviolent movement may face? Read on to learn more, and check back soon for additional posts in this series.
Imagine this scenario: A civil resistance campaign emerges in your country. You agree with the goals of the resistance, but you are not the one facing oppression. In fact, in many ways you are complicit in upholding the regime of oppression. What do you do? How can you help the resistance campaign? […]
If the police came and took your computer, would they be able to read all your documents and gain access to your activist contacts? If you’re using the public WiFi in a coffee shop, can someone else read the email you’re writing to organize your next nonviolent action? […]
