Many people assume there is a spectrum of organizing methods ranging from 100% nonviolence (nice, but not strong enough) to violence (powerful and effective.) ACTUALLY, THAT ASSUMPTION IS FALSE!!!
Actually, RESEARCH HAS PROVEN that adding any violence to an effort REDUCES the likelihood of winning.
I highly recommend the easy-to-read book by Erica Chenoweth and Maria J. Stephan – Why Civil Resistance Works – in which they researched a century of major campaigns for change. They found that those that were scrupulously 100% nonviolent were much more likely to win than those that included some violence. I mention this – and other resources – in the 1-page resource I compiled and am attaching here. I borrowed a copy of their book from the Olympia library.
In 1976 I started reading materials written by Gene Sharp. He reported that the Revolutionary War actually SLOWED DOWN the American colonists’ struggle for independence. A great many kinds of nonviolent resistance were working very well. These included:
- Tax boycotts
- Ignoring the colonial court system and setting up an independent court in Virginia
- Boycotting British goods and producing alternatives owned by local colonists
These efforts were causing Britain to move toward letting go of the American colonies. But when the Revolutionary War broke out – and colonists started shooting at British troops – that made the British government angry, so they retaliated by escalating the war. This actually delayed our independence.
I recommend the resources I wrote and attached here.
Resources for Organizing Nonviolent Grassroots Movements
A Solid Case for Nonviolence as Ethical, Practical and Powerful
My blog – www.parallaxperspectives.org – has a whole section on “Nonviolence.”
