• Americas
      • Dutch
      • English
      • French
      • Mayan
      • Portuguese (Brazilian)
      • Spanish
    • Central & South Asia
      • Bangla
      • Dari
      • Dhivehi
      • English
      • Farsi
      • Kyrgyz
      See More
    • East Asia & Oceania
      • Indonesian
      • Burmese
      • Chin (Burma)
      • Chinese
      • Portuguese (Continental)
      • English
      See More
    • Europe & Eurasia
      • Armenian
      • Azeri
      • Belarusian
      • Catalan
      • Portuguese (Continental)
      • Croatian
      See More
    • Middle East & North Africa
      • Arabic
      • Azeri
      • Dari
      • English
      • Farsi
      • Hebrew
      See More
    • Sub-Saharan Africa
      • Afaan Oromo
      • Amharic
      • Arabic
      • Portuguese (Continental)
      • English
      • French
      See More
  • Learn More About ICNC's Translations Program

International Center on Nonviolent Conflict

  • About
    • What Is Civil Resistance?
    • Our Work
    • Our Impact
    • Who We Are
    • Jobs & Internships
    • Join Our Mailing List
    • Contact Us
  • Services
    • Online Courses
    • Interactive Workshops
    • Staff Training
    • Coaching
    • Training of Trainers (ToT)
  • Programs
    • Column 2
      • Minds of The Movement Blog
      • ICNC Publications
      • Nonviolent Conflict News
      • ICNC Online Courses
      • Regional Institutes
      • Sign Up
      • ICNC Webinars
      • For Activists & Organizers
      • For Scholars & Students
      • For Policy Community
  • Resource Library
    • English Language Resources
    • Translated Resources
    • ICNC Films
  • Media & Blog
    • For Journalists and Press
    • ICNC Newsmakers
    • Minds of the Movement Blog
  • Translations
    • Afran Oromo
    • Amharic
    • Arabic
    • Armenian
    • Azeri
    • Bahasa Indonesia
    • Bangla
    • Belarusian
    • Burmese
    • Chin (Burma)
    • Chinese
    • Croatian
    • Dutch
    • Estonian
    • Farsi
    • French
    • Georgian
    • German
    • Hebrew
    • Hindi
    • Italian
    • Japanese
    • Jing-Paw (Burma)
    • Karen (Burma)
    • Khmer
    • Kiswahili
    • Kituba
    • Korean
    • Latvian
    • Lingala
    • Lithuanian
    • Macedonian
    • Malagasy
    • Mayan
    • Mon (Burma)
    • Mongolian
    • Nepali
    • Norwegian
    • Pashto
    • Polish
    • Portuguese (Brazilian)
    • Portuguese (Continental)
    • Russian
    • Serbian
    • Sindh
    • Slovak
    • Spanish
    • Tagalog
    • Tamil
    • Thai
    • Tibetan
    • Tigrigna
    • Turkish
    • Ukrainian
    • Urdu
    • Uzbek
    • Vietnamese
    • Xhosa
    • Learn More About ICNC's Translations Program
  • Search
    • Search This Site

How Agent Provocateurs Harm Our Movements

View excerpt
How Agent Provocateurs Harm Our Movements
Download the Book (PDF, 7.5 MB)

This resource is available in
1 other language(s) — see below

How Agent Provocateurs Harm Our Movements

History shows us that peoples’ movements are more likely to suc­ceed when they have unity among supporters, widespread participa­tion, strategic planning, and non­violent discipline. Unsurprisingly, movement opponents use agent provocateurs—fake activists work­ing undercover—to behave in counterproductive ways that undermine these four keys to success.

Drawing from international exam­ples, and an in-depth case study of the US Black Liberation Movement, this volume explores how agent provocateurs—and agent provoca­teur-like behavior—make movements smaller, weaker, and easier to de­feat. It also offers some ideas for how activists can inoculate their movements against such harms and increase their chances of success.

Steve Chase

ICNC Press
November 2021

Download the Book (PDF, 7.5 MB)
This resource is available in
1 other language(s)
This resource is also available in:
  • Spanish
  • How Agent Provocateurs Harm Our Movements
  • How Agent Provocateurs Harm Our Movements
  • How Agent Provocateurs Harm Our Movements
  • How Agent Provocateurs Harm Our Movements
  • How Agent Provocateurs Harm Our Movements

You may also be interested in:

  • Women in Nonviolent Movements

    Women’s meaningful involvement in civil resistance movements has shown to be a game changer. Examining movements in Argentina, Chile, Egypt, Liberia…

  • Making or Breaking Nonviolent Discipline in Civil Resistance Movements

    Purchase a hard copy via Amazon How can we understand when nonviolent movements will stay nonviolent? When are they likely to break down into violence…

  • The Trifecta of Civil Resistance: Unity, Planning, Discipline

    Article arguing that unity, planning, and nonviolent discipline stand as three critical attributes that determine success or failure for a nonviolent …

  • A Force More Powerful

    A Force More Powerful explores how popular movements battled entrenched regimes and military forces with weapons very different from guns and bullets.…

Return to Resource Library homepage

International Center on Nonviolent Conflict

600 New Hampshire Avenue NW
Suite 1010
Washington, D.C. 20037, USA

+1 202-596-8845

Other ICNC Affiliated Websites

  • Nonviolent Conflict News
  • Online Courses Platform
  • CivilResistance.net

Copyright ©2023 International Center on Nonviolent Conflict · All Rights Reserved

Note: Search results are listed in alphabetical order.