Civil Resistance: What Everyone Needs To Know®

Description

A sweeping overview of civil resistance movements around the world that explains what they are, how they work, why they are often effective, and why they can fail. Civil resistance is a method of conflict through which unarmed civilians use a variety of coordinated methods (strikes, protests, demonstrations, boycotts, and many other tactics) to prosecute a conflict without directly harming or threatening to harm an opponent. Sometimes called nonviolent resistance, unarmed struggle, or nonviolent action, this form of political action is now a mainstay across the globe. It was been a central form of resistance in the 1989 revolutions and in the Arab Spring, and it is now being practiced widely in Trump's America. If we are going to understand the manifold protest movements emerging around the globe, we need a thorough understanding of civil resistance and its many dynamics and manifestations. In Civil Resistance: What Everyone Needs to Know®, Erica Chenoweth -- one of the world's leading scholars on the topic--explains what civil resistance is, how it works, why it sometimes fails, how violence and repression affect it, and the long-term impacts of such resistance. Featuring both historical cases of civil resistance and more contemporary examples such as the Arab Awakenings and various ongoing movements in the United States, this book provides a comprehensive yet pithy overview of this enormously important subject. Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 2 Title - Complete......Page 4 Copyright......Page 5 Epigraph......Page 6 Table of Contents......Page 8 List of FIGURES AND TABLES......Page 14 Acknowledgments......Page 16 Preface......Page 20 Why call it “civil resistance” and not something else?......Page 30 How has civil resistance developed?......Page 36 How successful is civil resistance?......Page 42 What are some foundational examples of civil resistance?......Page 43 Where this book is headed......Page 55 How does civil resistance create change?......Page 57 How do you define nonviolent action?......Page 64 What are common nonviolent actions?......Page 66 What is the difference between civil resistance and protest?......Page 68 What roles do art and music play in civil resistance?......Page 69 What is the role of humor in civil resistance?......Page 74 What are “parallel institutions”?......Page 76 Is rioting considered civil resistance?......Page 82 Does property destruction count as civil resistance?......Page 86 Are hunger strikes, self-​immolation, and other forms of self-​harm considered civil resistance?......Page 87 What is the difference between civil resistance and civil disobedience?......Page 90 Is digital hacktivism ever considered civil resistance?......Page 91 How is civil resistance related to “civility”?......Page 97 What is the difference between a civil resistance campaign and a social movement?......Page 99 What are the stages of a civil resistance campaign?......Page 100 When is it legitimate to use civil resistance?......Page 102 Can nonviolent resistance be immoral?......Page 105 Is it fair to expect oppressed people to fight back against oppression using only civil resistance?......Page 107 2. How Civil Resistance Works......Page 110 What makes civil resistance campaigns effective?......Page 111 How do successful civil resistance campaigns get going?......Page 119 Once people have the opportunity and motivation to mobilize, why do they choose nonviolent action rather than armed resistance?......Page 122 Is there a formula for effective civil resistance campaigns?......Page 123 Who participates in civil resistance campaigns?......Page 124 How are women involved in civil resistance?......Page 125 How can civil resistance movements prompt a regime’s supporters to defect?......Page 129 What’s the difference between defections and coups?......Page 133 How do campaigns attract more supporters, even while being attacked by the regime?......Page 137 Which civil resistance tactics are most—​and least—​effective?......Page 138 How do social media and digital technology affect nonviolent campaigns?......Page 139 Does this mean that if a movement just gets 3.5% of the population into the streets, it will always win?......Page 143 Are there any exceptions to the 3.5% rule?......Page 144 Which campaigns have featured the largest percentages of popular participation?......Page 145 Does the 3.5% rule apply to campaigns that aren’t aimed at major results like removing a national leader or achieving independence—​say, campaigns for climate action or against local governments, corporations, or schools?......Page 147 Does a civil resistance movement need a clear, single cause to succeed?......Page 148 Which types of organizational structures are most effective?......Page 150 Is a charismatic leader necessary?......Page 154 Does nonviolent resistance only work in democracies, in developed countries, or in more liberal cultures?......Page 155 Why do nonviolent campaigns sometimes fail?......Page 156 Has civil resistance succeeded against corporate targets?......Page 157 Has civil resistance succeeded against long-​standing systems of oppression, like racism?......Page 159 Can civil resistance work in deeply divided societies?......Page 162 Have governments of one country provoked civil resistance campaigns in other countries?......Page 164 Can civil resistance work without at least some international support?......Page 166 Why were so many people caught off guard by the collapse of the Soviet Union—​just as, twenty years later, they were surprised by the Arab uprisings?......Page 167 Are there situations where nonviolent resistance is impossible—​or where violent resistance works better?......Page 169 3. Civil Resistance and Violence from within the Movement......Page 171 What counts as violence?......Page 174 How common is it for organized armed groups to fight alongside nonviolent campaigns?......Page 176 Has there ever been a purely nonviolent campaign—​that is, one without unarmed violence like street fighting or riots?......Page 178 What are some examples of campaigns that have involved unarmed violence?......Page 179 Don’t all nonviolent campaigns implicitly threaten violence?......Page 180 Does some fringe violence help movements to succeed?......Page 183 Do violent flanks undermine nonviolent campaigns?......Page 189 Does violence always hurt a civil resistance movement in the long term—​or can it help in some situations?......Page 196 How often do provocateurs succeed in provoking fringe violence?......Page 198 Why do some nonviolent campaigns adopt, embrace, or tolerate violent flanks?......Page 200 Okay, so how can nonviolent campaigns prevent or limit fringe violence?......Page 202 How can movements stay united when there are genuine disagreements about whether violence is acceptable?......Page 207 Can movements that start violently transform into civil resistance campaigns—​and succeed?......Page 208 Is fringe violence inevitable?......Page 209 4. Civil Resistance and Violence against the Movement......Page 211 What is repression?......Page 212 How common is repression against nonviolent campaigns?......Page 213 How does repression affect nonviolent campaigns?......Page 214 How risky is civil resistance?......Page 224 How often does a regime respond to nonviolent campaigns with mass killings?......Page 225 How do civil resistance campaigns respond to repression?......Page 226 Would the Indian Salt March have been nonviolent if they had been fighting against Hitler rather than the British Empire?......Page 232 Is armed resistance required to fight genocidal regimes?......Page 237 How have campaigns responded when pro-​government militias, death squads, or other armed nongovernment groups attack violently?......Page 239 When does repression against an unarmed movement backfire?......Page 241 How do civil resistance campaigns deal with fear among participants and potential participants who are vulnerable to repression?......Page 243 Can civil resistance movements prevent or reduce atrocities?......Page 245 Can the international community prevent atrocities against nonviolent movements?......Page 247 Do sanctions against brutal regimes help protect civilians waging nonviolent struggle?......Page 248 5. The Future of Civil Resistance......Page 251 Why are nonviolent revolutions becoming more common?......Page 253 Is civil resistance becoming more effective over time?......Page 255 Why did civil resistance campaigns begin to decline in their effectiveness after 2010?......Page 256 What is smart repression, and how are movements adapting to it?......Page 262 Given these recent advances in the authoritarian playbook, does civil resistance have a future in challenging entrenched power in autocratic regimes?......Page 267 What happens after nonviolent campaigns end?......Page 269 Why does civil resistance sometimes result in authoritarian backsliding after the movement wins?......Page 270 How have movements prepared themselves for transitions after they successfully force a political breakthrough?......Page 272 Has civil resistance ever succeeded at achieving truly revolutionary goals?......Page 273 How have civil resistance campaigns responded to the COVID pandemic?......Page 274 Since civil resistance has proven effective in so many instances, what keeps people from embracing it more fully?......Page 277 How can civil resistance be made easy and accessible to the public?......Page 279 What are the five things that everyone should know about civil resistance?......Page 280 SELECTED RESOURCES......Page 282 List of Nonviolent and Violent Revolutionary Campaigns, 1900–​2019......Page 284 Note......Page 316 References......Page 326 Index......Page 344