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Reading:

A Force More Powerful: A Century of Nonviolent Conflict

Chapter 1 - Russia 1905:The People Strike

"In 1905 an Orthodox priest, Georgii Gapon, persuaded 150,000 workers to walk the icy streets of Russia's ancient capital in the century's first public challenge to autocratic power. He ignited mass action nationwide that led to the country's first popularly elected national parliament" (Ackerman & Duvall, 2000; p.3).

Week 5 Discussion

1905 Russian Revolution as seen through the lens of Malcolm Gladwell

Now that we have completed Gerston and Gladwell, we turn to our final text A Force More Powerful: A Century of Nonviolent Conflict by Ackerman & DuVall. The text will enable us to shift our perspective from a local issue piquing our individual interest using Gerston as the major lens to historical (and larger in scope and complexity) social movements representing dimensions of civic engagement using Gladwell as the primary lens.

The first chapter, “Russia, 1905: The People Strike” provides a synopsis of the divergent groups and diverse actions used to oppose the oppressive Tsarist monarchy. While the whole of the movement was imperfect, it can be looked at as a series of actions/effects or tipping points to examine for our purposes.

For the discussion this week, select a dimension from at least 2 out of the 4 concepts (from the “Tipping point book) on the list below to discuss from “Russia 1905: The People Strike”:

The law of the few

The stickiness factor

The power of context

The power of translation

Summary Link to the 4 concepts (http://brandgenetics.com/the-tipping-point-speed-summary/)

In addition to your original post, respond to at least 1 other post.

Sample:

The law of the few definitely shows up in Russia, 1905: The People Strike. You can definitely see the different parts of the concept among the different players leading up to the armed resistance. I would say father Gabon played two major roles and one minor role. I think he was definitely a maven and a salesman and as he grew in popularity he also became a connector.

I believe the stickiness factor is also a pivotal piece of this chapter in Russia's history. There were a lot of contributors to this but I think one of the main contributors of making all of this stick was the czar himself. “Nicholas had given little thought to the escalating conflict between the people’s movement and his regime. The czar, according to a close associate, was living “in utter fool’s paradise, thinking that he will is strong, all-powerful as before!””(41). Another stickiness factor, was that the educated elite and the peasant workers were actually supporting each other. Though this didn't necessarily happen all the time, it was still a factor in gaining support for the movement.