with authors Chris Allan, Scott DuPree, and Mahmoud Soliman
June 16, 2021
Webinar Content
Introduction of Mexico Case Study Speakers: 0:00–6:19
Mexico Presentation: 6:20–30:56
Introduction of Palestine Case Study Speaker: 30:57–32:26
Palestine Presentation: 32:27–57:12
Questions and Answers: 57:13—1:32:36
Webinar Description
ICNC is pleased to host the authors of two forthcoming case studies on materials resources: Chris Allan and Scott DuPree, the authors of Nonviolent Movements and Material Resources in Northwest Mexico, and Mahmoud Soliman, the author of The Mobilization of Material Resources and Palestinian Nonviolent Resistance in the Occupied Territory of Area C.
Presentation on Nonviolent Campaigns in Northwest Mexico
Communities in Mexico are faced with challenges to their rights to natural resources: dams displace them, mines and industry poison their water and soil, criminal gangs and corrupt officials take over their territory. On paper, laws protect communities and Indigenous peoples, but in practice the state rarely comes to their aid. As a result, building movements that support the struggles of communities and groups fighting for their social, economic, cultural, and environmental rights has been a key strategy in civil resistance.
The movements seem to operate with few resources, and nearly no money. The little external funding for civil society that is available rarely reaches the grassroots groups that are the backbone of these movements. Yet they thrive and often succeed. This webinar will highlight strategies that are being used effectively by movements to mobilize the resources they need to influence both the public and policymakers. Based on the experience of three campaigns in Northwest Mexico over two decades, the research finds that material resources mobilized internally are a key “social bank” that enables mobilization that movements can sustain over time. We will discuss the strategic choices movements make to mobilize resources and how they direct them as situations change.
Presentation on Nonviolent Campaigns in Palestine Area C
Drawing on detailed interviews with activists, as well as the author’s observations and first-hand experience of more than 15 years as an activist involved in organizing campaigns, this study identifies the tactics used by Palestinian grassroots activists to generate, deploy, and manage material and non-material resources. It also identifies the organizational skills that these groups used to acquire and manage different kinds of material resources in support of various nonviolent campaigns. The study also looks at the types of material and non-material resources that have been harnessed by domestic actors and acquired from external sources for use in nonviolent campaigns.
The monograph presents an in-depth empirical study of three nonviolent resistance campaigns in doubly marginalized communities located in Area C in the occupied Palestine territories under full Israeli occupation. It finds that the residents of the communities were the key domestic actors for the campaigns and provided them with the different kinds of material and non-material resources which sustained them for more than 10 years. The monograph also finds that community-generated material resources were the most valuable to the campaigns and had the greatest impact. The rich non-material resources within the communities helped to generate other kinds of material resources. External actors played supportive roles, but their importance remained secondary to the roles played by grassroots actors in the campaigns. This study showed that external solidarity groups such as international solidarity movements and others played the largest supporting role among external actors.
About the Presenters
A. Scott DuPree (PhD, Civil Society Transitions) has worked for 30 years in helping build and strengthen social and environmental initiatives in Southern Africa, Brazil, Mexico, Southeast Asia and the United States. Scott holds a PhD in international affairs focused on the dynamic role of civil society. He has assisted international organizations and philanthropic foundations to advance civic approaches to development, human rights, the environment and grassroots activism. Scott was regional director for Africa for The Synergos Institute, co-founder and Program Director for Conectas Direitos Humanos, Greengrants Alliance coordinator for Global Greengrants Fund and the principal of Civil Society Transitions through which he has consulted for numerous organizations around the world. Scott is also a professor in the Masters of Development Program “Global Classroom” at Regis University where he teaches participatory planning and grassroots and indigenous activism.
Chris Allan, Ajabu Advisors LLC, has experience with public donors, foundations, and local and international NGOs working in social change, including designing, planning, implementing, and evaluating programs around the globe. He has led or participated in evaluations of global networks, international partnerships, and organizations in many countries (including Brazil, Georgia, Ghana, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Niger, Peru, Russia, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe). In the human rights field, he has organized and funded grassroots groups, national coalitions, and global alliances working on public participation in decision making about a wide range of issues. He has set up and led grantmaking programs in East Africa, Southern Africa, and globally. He holds a Master’s Degree in Social Change and Development from The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, and a Bachelor’s Degree from Wesleyan University in African Studies and Biology.
Dr. Mahmoud Soliman is a Palestinian nonviolent activist and academic. He completed his PhD in Peace and Conflict Resolution Studies at Coventry University in April 2019, and the title of his thesis was “Mobilization and Demobilization of Palestinian Society Towards Nonviolent Resistance in the Period from 2004-2014.” He has gained extensive experience in the last 15 years in organizing nonviolent campaigns against the Segregation Wall and the Israeli settlements. He is one of the cofounders of a popular nonviolent resistance network called the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee (PSCC) in which he worked as the capacity-building coordinator supervising the production of training materials for activists in the occupied Palestinian Territories.