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198 Methods of Nonviolent Action - Albert Einstein Institution
Practitioners of nonviolent struggle have an entire arsenal of “nonviolent weapons” at their disposal. Listed below are 198 of them, classified into three broad categories: nonviolent protest and persuasion, noncooperation (social, economic, and political), and nonviolent intervention. A description and historical examples of each can be found in volume two of The Politics of Nonviolent Action, by Gene Sharp.
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. Leaflets, 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 flags 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" officials
- 32. Taunting officials
- 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. Camouflaged 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 affairs
- 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 officials
- 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. Sitdown
- 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 inefficiency 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
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. Defiance 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
The ballot or the bullet
I've been trying to figure out how express the gist of that to libs without actually saying it. Also - I want what I say to be reddit-acceptable because I am 100% sick of getting banned. This is the best I've come up with...
Peaceful protests are much loved by the democratic establishment because they accomplish nothing and are performative. Protests acceptable to the oppressor aren't actually protests at all. For a protest to have impact - it must cause some fear. Sorry but that's reality.
The name doesn't do it any favors, but Andreas Malm's latest book How to [Redacted] A Pipeline makes some great arguments in that direction with the premise largely being that most of our historical narratives are whitewashed of violence despite force being the primary demand resulting in change.
Zinn's A People's History and Loewen's Lies My Teacher Told Me were a massive step towards my radicalization when I read them years ago, but even they barely scratch the struggle to that. I hear Phillip Foner's stuff is quite good for that and he's on my list. Anything else you'd recommend?
I just finished reading Gerald Horne's The Counter-Revolution of 1776: Slave Resistance and the Origins of the United States of America and, while it was a rough read until about chapter 5, it was fucking amazing. There's a lot of knowledgeable folks that try and push back against the cliffnotes assertion that slavery played a major role in American Independence but when you look at the constant uprisings of African Slaves and how they were shaping the world of geopolitics and economics with the evidence he lays out there's just no way you can deny it. I really recommend it if you're about worker uprisings.
No root, no fruit, baby.✊ After finding that meme I stumbled through quite a few of his songs on youtube too. His Korea track with Ani DiFranco was quite the listen. I really need to go back to checking him out. Thanks for the reminder! :stalin-heart:
In need to at least feel that I'm talking to somebody who's actually listening to me. I need to save time.
socratic method and ask them
I've never had that work for something like protests. "Peaceful" is a lib thought-terminating cliché. And peaceful, peaceful, peaceful is their droning cicada-like mantra. Imagine I give them my example - I might be able to quickly judge if I can even try to talk to them. I'll probably need to cut bait or I'll just lose my shit.
Libs love to do what they call are "debates". Often they feel even more frustrated than we do. Related - https://hexbear.net/post/203958
Why do they feel so frustrated? Debates for them are often moral superiority tests and/or knowledge tests. Before they even start talking - they've already won arguments with right-wingers or with us. Their "debate" is already over after they've given some lib-brained text comment like "Are you actually advocating for violence?"
And there's my least favorite quip "You don't understand how politics works - do you?" Biden apologists really love that one. I won't bother to talk to somebody if they aren't actually listening. Of course - some online libs would find fault with my use of talking because we are actually reading.
I see strikes, although anyone who thinks those are nonviolent is fooling themself.
A good example is the Air Traffic controllers strike in Spain in 2010, where they forced them back to work at gunpoint. A SuccDem government at that.
Gene Sharp
Let's see if he's on Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Sharp
He does have a Wikipedia article. And it has a criticism section. Let's see what people have to criticize about him:
Gene Sharp has been accused by Thierry Meyssan of having strong links with a variety of US institutions including the Central Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon, and Republican-related institutions, such as International Republican Institute, RAND Corporation, and the National Endowment for Democracy.
Oh.
Holy fuck - did I share a list that germinated in cubicles at Langley, the Pentagon and RAND?
Here's a Moderate Rebel video about Gene Sharp back when Max Blumenthal wasn't some anti-vaxing grifter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ruu9aDHTqJU. And yes, it's that Parenti, in this case, she's the wife of Michael Parenti's son.
- Mock funerals
Hold a mock funeral for the judges. With a bonfire and some effigies.
Some of it is okay. It's kind of padded to reach its total, it double-dips a bit (what is a 'wade-in'?), and it sounds like the authors are trying to LARP as Gandhi.
You can tell that it has liberal circumscriptions because of how destroying your own property is listed, but destroying or damaging others' property (or industrial sabotage) is not.
And what exactly is a nonviolent air raid?
Lysistratic
Damn it. My dyslexic brain got discombobulated and even though "inaction" is a big hint and the noun is just a "ic" to "a" change away - I still couldn't see/find the noun in my head.
Lysistrata (literally "Army Disbander") is an ancient Greek comedy by Aristophanes, originally performed in classical Athens in 411 BC. It is a comic account of a woman's extraordinary mission to end the Peloponnesian War between Greek city states by denying all the men of the land any sex, which was the only thing they truly and deeply desired.
The etymology is neat. I had no idea.
Don't you remember the "Sex Strike" that Dems tried to get off the ground in early summer of 2019? Where women, who are of course all libs, would refuse to have sex with their men, who are of course all conservatives, untill the men promised to be better and vote liberal in 2020 i think? Never really heard much about it, but I think bill Maher did a short segment on it, and otherwise it was mostly just people on twitter clowning on the idea.
I've seen lysistratic at least one other time at r/CTH or the chapo site. It's hard to explain how dyslexia works. It's a bit like when you're drunk and you want coffee but you put the whole beans unground into your French press. And then you say "Why did I do that?" The brain had a processing error. Dyslexia is different for different people but for me it a processing error (or maybe "bug" is a better word) for language.
I kept thinking of the word "listeria" which is a kind of food poisoning and I doubted that had any connection so in frustration I googled.
A good list of possible tactics to explore. Of course, about a third of these will get you shot in the USA since no one told the cops this was a non-violent action.
This set of tactics aren't liberalism - restricting yourself to them on principle is though.
I found it here...
