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1. When Civil Resistance Succeeds: Building Democracy After Popular Nonviolent Uprisings

Author:
Jonathan Pinckney
Publication Date:
10-2018
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Center on Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC)
Abstract:
Why do some nonviolent revolutions lead to successful democratization while others fail to consolidate democratic change? And what can activists do to push toward a victory over dictatorship that results in long-term political freedom? Several studies show that nonviolent revolutions are generally a more positive force for democratization than violent revolutions and top-down political transitions. However, some nonviolent revolutions, such as the Arab Spring revolution in Egypt, do not seem to fi t this pattern. This study takes on this puzzle and reveals that the answer lies in large part in the actions of civil society prior to and during transition. Democracy is most likely when activists can keep their social bases mobilized for positive political change while directing that mobilization toward building new political institutions.
Topic:
Civil Society, Democracy, Resistance, and Nonviolence
Political Geography:
Global Focus

2. Civil Resistance against Coups: A Comparative and Historical Perspective

Author:
Stephen Zunes
Publication Date:
12-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Center on Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC)
Abstract:
Nations are not helpless if the military decides to stage a coup. On dozens of occasions in recent decades, even in the face of intimidated political leaders and international indifference, civil society has risen up to challenge putschists through large-scale nonviolent direct action and noncooperation. How can an unarmed citizenry mobilize so quickly and defeat a powerful military committed to seizing control of the government? What accounts for the success or failure of nonviolent resistance movements to reverse coups and consolidate democratic gains? This monograph presents in-depth case studies and analysis intended to improve our understanding of the strategic utility of civil resistance against military takeovers; the nature of civil resistance mobilization against coups; and the role of civil resistance against coups in countries’ subsequent democratization efforts (or failure thereof). It offers key lessons for pro-democracy activists and societies vulnerable to military usurpation of power; national civilian and military bureaucracies; external state and non-s
Topic:
Political Activism, Democracy, Protests, Coup, Resistance, and Civil-Military Relations
Political Geography:
Global Focus

3. Powering to Peace: Integrated Civil Resistance and Peacebuilding Strategies

Author:
Veronique Dudouet
Publication Date:
04-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
International Center on Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC)
Abstract:
Since the Arab Spring, states, civilians, and many nongovernmental organizations have watched as contentious events play out across the globe. Many wondered how these events would unfold, which would succeed, and just as significantly, whether those contesting power would come to be victimized by the very governments they were protesting against. In this report we seek to understand why some popular uprisings experience mass killings and others do not. In particular, we focus in on the characteristics of violent and nonviolent uprisings to better understand the types of contentious events that are most likely to elicit government crackdowns. Analyzing new data on state violence and popular uprisings from 1955 to 2013, we find that mass killings are associated with particular country and regime characteristic. Preexisting subgroup discrimination and certain types of authoritarian regimes, for instance, are important predictors of governmental violence. Yet, characteristics of popular uprisings are significant as well. Not every uprising is equally threatening to regime elites, and some – like violent movements with foreign support – are much more likely to elicit mass killings than others. In turn, nonviolent resistance, though oftentimes constituting an even greater challenge to oppressive regimes than armed struggle, tends to also decrease the likelihood of mass atrocities. These findings therefore have important implications for policymakers seeking to prevent mass atrocities, and for activists seeking to stay safe in the course of a popular uprising.
Topic:
Civil Society, Peace Studies, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:
Global Focus

4. People Power Movements and International Human Rights: Creating a Legal Framework

Author:
Elizabeth Wilson
Publication Date:
08-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
International Center on Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC)
Abstract:
International human rights came into existence bottom-up, from the e orts of ordinary people to ally with each other in solidarity and demand their rights through civil resistance campaigns in support of democracy, an end to slavery and child labor, women’s rights, labor rights, and tenant rights, among other rights. Yet international law recognizes only states as the ultimate source of law. This monograph develops a novel, people-powered or “demos-centric” approach to international human rights law that acknowledges the role in lawmaking of average human beings, seeing them as both the source of rights and the most e ective means of overcoming the central weakness of international law—namely, its inability to ensure that states and governments comply with the human rights obligations they supposedly undertake. Taking account of nonviolent movements and their impact on the formation and implementation of international human rights law recognizes the human agency of the supposed bene ciaries of human rights law: common people.
Topic:
Human Rights and International Cooperation
Political Geography:
Global Focus

5. Making or Breaking Nonviolent Discipline in Civil Resistance Movements

Author:
Thomas Pinckney
Publication Date:
10-2016
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
International Center on Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC)
Abstract:
A central question in the study and practice of civil resistance is how nonviolent movements can maintain nonviolent discipline among their members. What factors encourage and sustain nonviolent discipline, particularly in the face of violent repression? While several scholars have suggested answers to these questions to date, the answers have largely remained ad hoc and have not been systematically tested. This monograph addresses these deficits in the literature by offering a unified theory of nonviolent discipline. This theory provides a helpful tool for better understanding how nonviolent discipline is created, sustained and shaped by repression. Following the theory, the monograph presents two tests of the effects of several influences on nonviolent discipline. The first is on the impact of patterns of repression, history of civil resistance, and campaign leadership and structure on nonviolent discipline.
Topic:
Human Rights
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6. The Power of Staying Put: Nonviolent Resistance Against Armed Groups in Colombia

Author:
Juan Masullo
Publication Date:
08-2015
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
International Center on Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC)
Abstract:
Confronted with civil war, local civilians typically either collaborate with the strongest actor in town or flee the area. Yet civilians are not stuck only with these choices. Collectively defying armed groups by engaging in organized nonviolent forms of noncooperation, self-organization and disruption is another option. This monograph explores this option through sustained and organized civil resistance led by ordinary peasants against state and non-state repressive actors in Colombia’s longstanding civil war: the case of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó.
Topic:
Human Rights
Political Geography:
Global Focus