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Home › Nonviolent Action › What is nonviolent action?

Nonviolent action (also sometimes referred to as people power, political defiance, and nonviolent struggle) is a technique of action for applying power in a conflict by using symbolic protests, noncooperation, and defiance, but not physical violence.

Nonviolent action may involve:

1. Acts of omission—that is, people may refuse to perform acts that they usually perform, are expected by custom to perform, or are required by law or regulation to perform; 2. Acts of commission—that is, people may perform acts that they do not usually perform, are not expected by custom to perform, or are forbidden to perform; or 3. A combination of the two.

As a technique, therefore, nonviolent action is not passive. It is not inaction.

Nonviolent action is action that is nonviolent.

What are the applications of nonviolent action?

Nonviolent action can and has been used to:

• Dismantle dictatorships • Block coups d’état • Defend against foreign invasions • Expel foreign occupation • Provide an alternative to violence in extreme ethnic conflicts • Challenge unjust social and economic systems • Develop, preserve and extend democratic practices, human rights, civil liberties and freedom of religion • Resist genocide

For more information, see the applications of nonviolent action section on our web site.

What are the methods of nonviolent action?

There are a multitude of specific methods of nonviolent action or “nonviolent weapons.” Nearly two hundred have been identified to date, and without

What is nonviolent action?

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doubt, scores more already exist or will emerge in future conflicts. Three broad classes of nonviolent methods exist:

1. Nonviolent protest and persuasion, 2. Noncooperation, and 3. Nonviolent intervention.

For more information on these methods, see our list of 198 methods of nonviolent action and also The Politics of Nonviolent Action, Vol. 2: The Methods of Nonviolent Action (Boston: Porter Sargent Publishers, 1973).

How does nonviolent action work?

Nonviolent action works by getting a population to withdraw its support and obedience from the opponents. By getting key groups to withdraw their consent, nonviolent action is able to remove the sources of power for a regime or opponent group.

These sources of power are:

1. Authority—the belief among the people that the regime or opponent is legitimate, and that they have a moral duty to obey it; 2. Human resources—the number and importance of the persons and groups that are obeying, cooperating, or providing assistance to the regime or opponent; 3. Skills and knowledge—needed by the regime or opponent to perform specific actions and supplied by the cooperating persons and groups; 4. Intangible factors—psychological and ideological factors that may induce people to obey and assist the regime or opponent; 5. Material resources—the degree to which the rulers control or have access to property, natural resources, financial resources, the economic system, and means of communication and transportation; and 6. Sanctions—punishments, threatened or applied, against the disobedient and noncooperative to ensure the submission and cooperation that are needed for the regime or opponent to exist and carry out its policies.

All of these sources of power, however, depend on acceptance of the regime or opponent, on the submission and obedience of the population, and on the cooperation of innumerable people and the many institutions of society. When this obedience, acceptance, and support are withdrawn, the regime or opponent can be severely weakened or toppled.

What are the ways that nonviolent action can produce change?

Nonviolent action operates by producing one or more of these four mechanisms of change:

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1. Conversion—changes in attitude cause the opponents to voluntarily make concessions; 2. Accommodation—the opponents negotiate and compromise; 3. Nonviolent coercion—the opponents are weakened so much that they are forced to capitulate; and 4. Disintegration—the opponents are weakened to the point where their regime simply falls apart.

What is the role of strategy in nonviolent action?

Historically, nonviolent action has often been an improvised type of action —sometimes even a spontaneous occurance—with little or no advanced strategic planning to guide it. However, just as strategic planning is used in military conflicts and other types of activities, strategic planning can also be used in nonviolent action to increase its effectiveness. Strategic planning involves choosing clear objectives, devising a grand strategy (or master plan), more limited strategies for specific objectives that fit within the grand strategy, tactical (or short-term) planning, and the choice of specific methods to achieve tactical and strategic objectives.

What is the difference between “nonviolent action” and “nonviolence”?

“Nonviolent action” is a technique of waging conflicts and is identified by the type of action employed. It does not require any specific ethical, moral, or religious beliefs to be used.

“Nonviolence” is often used to mean many different phenomena, but generally refers to the absence of violence and to religious, moral, or ethical beliefs that reject violence.

Does nonviolent action equate with passivity or submissiveness?

Nonviolent action has nothing to do with passivity, submissiveness, and cowardice. Just as in violent action, these must first be rejected and overcome.

Does nonviolent action rely only on verbal or psychological persuasion?

Nonviolent action is not to be equated with verbal or psychological persuasion, although nonviolent action may be used to apply psychological pressures to achieve attitude change. Nonviolent action, instead of just words, is a technique of struggle involving the use of social, economic, and political power, and the matching of forces in conflict.

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Does nonviolent action depend on converting or swaying the hearts of the oppressors?

Nonviolent action does not depend on converting your opponents to willingly give in. It can produce powerful coercive effects and can force opponents to concede or can destroy their power.

Does nonviolent action depend on the assumption that people are inherently “good”?

Nonviolent action does not depend on the assumption that people are inherently “good”. The potentialities of people for both “good” and “evil” are recognized, including the extremes of cruelty and inhumanity.

Does nonviolent action require any religious beliefs to be used effectively? Can nonviolent action only be used by pacifists?

People using nonviolent action do not have to be pacifists or saints, nor do they need to hold particular religious, moral, or ethical beliefs. Nonviolent action has predominantly and successfully been practiced by “ordinary” people all over the world, including by people who believed violence to be morally acceptable.

For more information about the use of nonviolent action around the world, see the case studies section of our web site as well as our publications on case studies.

Is nonviolent action an Eastern or Western phenomenon?

Nonviolent action is at least as much of a Western phenomenon as an Eastern one. Indeed, it is probably more Western, if one takes into account the widespread use of strikes and boycotts in the labor movement and the noncooperation struggles of subordinated nationalities.

Can nonviolent action work effectively against violent opponents?

In nonviolent action, there is no assumption that the opponents will refrain from using violence against nonviolent actionists. The technique is designed to operate against violence when necessary and historically has been used against extremely violent and ruthless regimes.

Can nonviolent action be used for both “good” and “bad” causes?

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There is nothing in nonviolent action to prevent it from being used for both “good” and “bad” causes, although the social consequences of its use for a “bad” cause are likely to differ considerably from the consequences of violence used for the same cause.

Does nonviolent action only work in a democratic system? Can it be used and succeed against dictatorships?

Nonviolent action is not limited to domestic conflicts within a democratic system. It has been widely used against dictatorial regimes, foreign occupations, and even against totalitarian systems.

For more information about the different uses of nonviolent struggle, see the applications of nonviolent action section on our web site.

Does nonviolent action take longer to produce victory than violence?

Nonviolent action does not always take longer to produce victory than violent struggle would. In a variety of cases, nonviolent struggle has won objectives in a very short time—in as little as a few days. Other struggles may require considerably more time. The time taken to achieve victory depends on diverse factors—primarily the strengths, strategy, and tenacity of the nonviolent struggle group.

Does nonviolent action require a charismatic leader (like Mohandas Gandhi or Martin Luther King, Jr.) in order to be effective?

Nonviolent action does not depend on a charismatic leader in order to be effective. There are many examples of nonviolent action being used effectively without strong centralized leadership in the resistance (as in Serbia 2000 against Slobodan Milosevic). Exclusive dependence on a charismatic leader can even be detrimental to success, while wide diffusion of the skills to wage noncooperation and defiance can produce more reliable power.

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198 METHODS OF NONVIOLENT ACTION

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Boston, MA 02118 USA

tel: 617.247.4882 fax 617.247.4035

[email protected] www.aeinstein.org

The Methods of Nonviolent Protest and Persuasion Formal Statements

1. Public speeches 2. Letters of opposition or support 3. Declarations by organizations and institutions 4. Signed public statements 5. Declarations of indictment and intention 6. Group or mass petitions

Communications with a Wider Audience 7. Slogans, caricatures, and symbols 8. Banners, posters, and displayed communications 9. Leafl ets, pamphlets, and books 10. Newspapers and journals 11. Records, radio, and television 12. Skywriting and earthwriting

Group Representations 13. Deputations 14. Mock awards 15. Group lobbying 16. Picketing 17. Mock elections

Symbolic Public Acts 18. Displays of fl ags and symbolic colors 19. Wearing of symbols 20. Prayer and worship 21. Delivering symbolic objects 22. Protest disrobings 23. Destruction of own property 24. Symbolic lights 25. Displays of portraits 26. Paint as protest 27. New signs and names 28. Symbolic sounds 29. Symbolic reclamations 30. Rude gestures

Pressures on Individuals 31. “Haunting” offi cials 32. Taunting offi cials 33. Fraternization 34. Vigils

Drama and Music 35. Humorous skits and pranks 36. Performances of plays and music 37. Singing

Processions 38. Marches 39. Parades 40. Religious processions 41. Pilgrimages 42. Motorcades

Honoring the Dead 43. Political mourning 44. Mock funerals 45. Demonstrative funerals 46. Homage at burial places

Public Assemblies 47. Assemblies of protest or support 48. Protest meetings 49. Camoufl aged meetings of protest 50. Teach-ins

Withdrawal and Renunciation 51. Walk-outs 52. Silence 53. Renouncing honors 54. Turning one’s back

The Methods of Social Noncooperation Ostracism of Persons

55. Social boycott 56. Selective social boycott 57. Lysistratic nonaction 58. Excommunication 59. Interdict

Noncooperation with Social Events, Customs, and Institutions

60. Suspension of social and sports activities 61. Boycott of social aff airs 62. Student strike 63. Social disobedience 64. Withdrawal from social institutions

Withdrawal from the Social System 65. Stay-at-home 66. Total personal noncooperation 67. “Flight” of workers 68. Sanctuary 69. Collective disappearance 70. Protest emigration (hijrat)

The Methods of Economic Noncooperation: Economic Boycotts Actions by Consumers

71. Consumers’ boycott 72. Nonconsumption of boycotted goods 73. Policy of austerity 74. Rent withholding 75. Refusal to rent 76. National consumers’ boycott 77. International consumers’ boycott

Action by Workers and Producers 78. Workmen’s boycott 79. Producers’ boycott

Action by Middlemen 80. Suppliers’ and handlers’ boycott

Action by Owners and Management 81. Traders’ boycott 82. Refusal to let or sell property 83. Lockout 84. Refusal of industrial assistance 85. Merchants’ “general strike”

Action by Holders of Financial Resources 86. Withdrawal of bank deposits 87. Refusal to pay fees, dues, and assessments 88. Refusal to pay debts or interest 89. Severance of funds and credit 90. Revenue refusal 91. Refusal of a government’s money

Action by Governments 92. Domestic embargo 93. Blacklisting of traders 94. International sellers’ embargo 95. International buyers’ embargo 96. International trade embargo

The Methods of Economic Noncooperation: The Strike Symbolic Strikes

97. Protest strike 98. Quickie walkout (lightning strike)

Agricultural Strikes 99. Peasant strike 100. Farm Workers’ strike

Strikes by Special Groups 101. Refusal of impressed labor 102. Prisoners’ strike 103. Craft strike 104. Professional strike

Ordinary Industrial Strikes 105. Establishment strike 106. Industry strike 107. Sympathetic strike

Restricted Strikes 108. Detailed Strike 109. Bumper strike 110. Slowdown strike 111. Working-to-rule strike 112. Reporting “sick” (sick-in) 113. Strike by resignation 114. Limited strike 115. Selective strike

Multi-Industry Strikes 116. Generalized strike 117. General strike

Combination of Strikes and Economic Closures 118. Hartal 119. Economic shutdown

The Methods of Political Noncooperation Rejection of Authority

120. Withholding or withdrawal of allegiance 121. Refusal of public support 122. Literature and speeches advocating resistance

Citizens’ Noncooperation with Government 123. Boycott of legislative bodies 124. Boycott of elections 125. Boycott of government employment and positions 126. Boycott of government depts., agencies, and other bodies 127. Withdrawal from government educational institutions 128. Boycott of government-supported organizations 129. Refusal of assistance to enforcement agents 130. Removal of own signs and placemarks 131. Refusal to accept appointed offi cials 132. Refusal to dissolve existing institutions

Citizens’ Alternatives to Obedience 133. Reluctant and slow compliance 134. Nonobedience in absence of direct supervision 135. Popular nonobedience 136. Disguised disobedience 137. Refusal of an assemblage or meeting to disperse 138. Sit-down 139. Noncooperation with conscription and deportation 140. Hiding, escape, and false identities 141. Civil disobedience of “illegitimate” laws

Action by Government Personnel 142. Selective refusal of assistance by government aides 143. Blocking of lines of command and information 144. Stalling and obstruction 145. General administrative noncooperation 146. Judicial noncooperation 147. Deliberate ineffi ciency and selective noncooperation by enforcement agents 148. Mutiny

Domestic Governmental Action 149. Quasi-legal evasions and delays 150. Noncooperation by constituent governmental units

International Governmental Action 151. Changes in diplomatic and other representations 152. Delay and cancellation of diplomatic events 153. Withholding of diplomatic recognition 154. Severance of diplomatic relations 155. Withdrawal from international organizations 156. Refusal of membership in international bodies 157. Expulsion from international organizations

Far too often people struggling for democratic rights and justice are not aware of the full range of methods of nonviolent action. Wise strategy, attention to the dynamics of nonviolent struggle, and careful selection of methods can increase a group’s chances of success.

Gene Sharp’s researched and catalogued these 198 methods and provided a rich selection of historical examples in his seminal work, The Politics of Nonviolent Action (3 Vols.) Boston: Porter Sargent, 1973.

The Methods of Nonviolent Intervention Psychological Intervention

158. Self-exposure to the elements 159. The fast

a. Fast of moral pressure b. Hunger strike c. Satyagrahic fast

160. Reverse trial 161. Nonviolent harassment

Physical Intervention 162. Sit-in 163. Stand-in 164. Ride-in 165. Wade-in 166. Mill-in 167. Pray-in 168. Nonviolent raids 169. Nonviolent air raids 170. Nonviolent invasion 171. Nonviolent interjection 172. Nonviolent obstruction 173. Nonviolent occupation

Social Intervention 174. Establishing new social patterns 175. Overloading of facilities 176. Stall-in 177. Speak-in 178. Guerrilla theater 179. Alternative social institutions 180. Alternative communication system

Economic Intervention 181. Reverse Strike 182. Stay-in Strike 183. Nonviolent land seizure 184. Defi ance of Blockades 185. Politically Motivated Counterfeiting 186. Preclusive Purchasing 187. Seizure of assets 188. Dumping 189. Selective patronage 190. Alternative markets 191. Alternative transportation systems 192. Alternative economic institutions

Political Intervention 193. Overloading of administrative systems 194. Disclosing identities of secret agents 195. Seeking imprisonment 196. Civil disobedience of “neutral” laws 197. Work-on without collaboration 198. Dual sovereignty and parallel government

CORRECTING COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT NONVIOLENT ACTION

560 Harrison Ave Suite 402

Boston, MA 02118 USA

tel: 617.247.4882 fax 617.247.4035

[email protected] www.aeinstein.org

What nonviolent action is

Nonviolent action is a technique of socio-political action for applying power in a confl ict without the use of physical violence. Nonviolent action may involve acts of omission—that is, people may refuse to perform acts that they usually perform, are expected by custom to perform, or are required by law or regulation to perform; acts of commission—that is, people may perform acts that they do not usually perform, are not expected by custom to perform, or are forbidden to preform; or a combination of the two. As a technique, therefore, nonviolent action is not passive. It is not inaction. It is action that is nonviolent. These acts comprise a multitude of specifi c methods of action or “nonviolent weapons.” Nearly two hundred have been identifi ed to date, and without doubt, scores more already exist or will emerge in future confl icts. Three broad classes of nonviolent methods exist: nonviolent protest and persuasion, noncooperation, and nonviolent intervention. Nonviolent action provides a way to wield power in order to achieve objectives and to sanction opponents without the use of physical violence. Overwhelmingly, nonviolent action is group or mass action. While certain forms of this technique,especially the symbolic methods, may be regarded as eff orts to persuade by action, the other forms, especially those of noncooperation, may, if practiced by large numbers, coerce opponents. Whatever the issue and scale of the confl ict, nonviolent action is a technique by which people who reject passivity and submission, and who see struggle as essential, can wage their confl ict without violence. Nonviolent action is not an attempt to avoid confl ict. It is one response to the problem of how to wield power eff ectively.

What nonviolent action isn’t

1) Nonviolent action has nothing to do with passivity, submissiveness, and cowardice; just as in violent action, these must fi rst be rejected and overcome. 2) Nonviolent action is not to be equated with verbal or purely psychological persuasion, although it may use action to induce psychological pressures for attitude change; nonviolent action, instead of words, is a sanction and a technique of struggle

involving the use of social, economic, and political power, and the matching of forces in confl ict. 3) Nonviolent action does not depend on the assumption that people are inherently “good”; the potentialities of people for both “good” and “evil” are recognized, including the extremes of cruelty and inhumanity. 4) People using nonviolent action do not have to be pacifi sts or saints; nonviolent action has been predominantly and successfully practiced by “ordinary” people. 5) Success with nonviolent action does not require (though it may be helped by) shared standards and principles, a high degree of community of interest, or a high degree of psychological closeness between the contending groups; this is because when eff orts to produce voluntary change fail, coercive nonviolent measures may be employed. 6) Nonviolent action is at least as much of a Western phenomenon as an Eastern one; indeed, it is probably more Western, if one takes into account the widespread use of strikes and boycotts in the labor movement and the noncooperation struggles of subordinated nationalities. 7) In nonviolent action there is no assumption that the opponent will refrain from using violence against nonviolent actionists; the technique is designed to operate against violence when necessary. 8) There is nothing in nonviolent action to prevent it from being used for both “good” and “bad” causes, although the social consequences of its use for a “bad” cause may diff er considerably from the consequences of violence used for the same cause. 9) Nonviolent action is not limited to domestic confl icts within a democratic system; it has been widely used against dictatorial regimes, foreign occupations, and even against totalitarian systems. 10) Nonviolent action does not always take longer to produce victory than violent struggle would. In a variety of cases nonviolent struggle has won objectives in a very short time — in as little as a few days. The time taken to achieve victory depends on diverse factors — primarily on the strength of the nonviolent actionists.

Source: Gene Sharp, The Politics of Nonviolent Action (3 Vols.), Boston: Porter Sargent, 1973.