Nonviolent action? Yes please

What can we do that doesn’t raise the level of violence?

Nonviolent action.

What makes nonviolent action effective?

Leaders have to shift tactics to gain traction and commit to the long term, all while maintaining hope among members, forming alliances, and never faltering in their clear vision of a desired goal.

The discipline of planning a direct action is not so different from planning how to introduce a new way of doing things within an organization.

For those committed to fostering racial and social justice, planning change is a rigorous undertaking. The benefit is the change itself, knowing that you had a hand in it, and the world is a better place because you helped to make it so.

I encourage you to visit the database to see what might be possible for you. Start the new year with new ideas and plans. 

Following is the complete list of methods, as compiled into the Global Nonviolent Action Database, a project of Swarthmore College including the Peace and Conflict Studies Program, the Peace Collection, and the Lang Center for Civic and Social Responsibility.

The full blog (link in comments) provides links to each action.

The Methods of Nonviolent Protest and Persuasion

 Formal Statements

001. Public speeches

002. Letters of opposition or support 

003. Declarations by organizations and institutions

004. Signed public statements 

005. Declarations of indictment and intention 

006. Group or mass petitions

Communications with a wider audience

007. Slogans, caricatures, and symbols

008. Banners, posters, and displayed communications 

009. Leaflets, pamphlets, and books 

010. Newspapers and journals

011. Records, radio, and television 

012. Skywriting and earthwriting

Group representations

013. Deputations 

014. Mock awards

015. Group lobbying 

016. Picketing

017. Mock elections

Symbolic public acts

018. Displays of flags and symbolic colors

019. Wearing of symbols

020. Prayer and worship

021. Delivering symbolic objects

022. Protest disrobings

023. Destruction of own property 

024. Symbolic lights

025. Displays of portraits

026. Paint as protest 

027. New signs and names

028. Symbolic sounds

029. Symbolic reclamations 

030. Rude gestures

Pressures on individuals

031. "Haunting" officials 

032. Taunting officials

033. Fraternization 

034. Vigils

Drama and Music

035. Humorous skits and pranks

036. Performances of plays and music

037. Singing

Processions

038. Marches 

039. Parades 

040. Religious processions 

041. Pilgrimages 

042. Motorcades 

Honoring the dead

043. Political mourning 

044. Mock funerals 

045. Demonstrative funerals 

046. Homage at burial places 

Public assemblies

047. Assemblies of protest or support 

048. Protest meetings 

049. Camouflaged meetings of protest

050. Teach-ins

Withdrawal and renunciation

051. Walk-outs 

052. Silence

053. Renouncing honors

054. Turning one's back

The Methods of Noncooperation

Social Noncooperation

Ostracism of persons

055. Social boycott

056. Selective social boycott 

057. Lysistratic nonaction 

058. Excommunication

059. Interdict 

Noncooperation with social events, customs, and institutions

060. Suspension of social and sports activities

061. Boycott of social affairs

062. Student strike

063. Social disobedience 

064. Withdrawal from social institutions

Withdrawal from the social system

065. Stay-at-home

066. Total personal noncooperation 

067. "Flight" of workers

068. Sanctuary 

069. Collective disappearance 

070. Protest emigration (hijrat) 

Economic Noncooperation: Boycotts

Action by consumers

071. Consumers' boycott

072. Nonconsumption of boycotted goods

073. Policy of austerity

074. Rent withholding

075. Refusal to rent

076. National consumers' boycott 

077. International consumers' boycott

Action by workers and producers

078. Workers' boycott 

079. Producers' boycott 

Action by middlemen

080. Suppliers' and handlers' boycott

Action by owners and management

081. Traders' boycott 

082. Refusal to let or sell property

083. Lockout 

084. Refusal of industrial assistance 

085. Merchants' "general strike" 

Action by holders of financial resources

086. Withdrawal of bank deposits

087. Refusal to pay fees, dues, and assessments

088. Refusal to pay debts or interest

089. Severance of funds and credit 

090. Revenue refusal 

091. Refusal of a government's money

Action by governments

092. Domestic embargo 

093. Blacklisting of traders

094. International sellers' embargo 

095. International buyers' embargo 

096. International trade embargo 

Economic Noncooperation: Strikes

Symbolic strikes

097. Protest strike 

098. Quickie walkout (lightning strike)

Agricultural strikes

099. 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. Sympathy 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 

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 departments, agencies, and other bodies

127. Withdrawal from governmental educational institutions

128. Boycott of government-supported institutions

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 representation

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 (fast of moral pressure, hunger strike, satyagraphic 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 theatre

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

Additional Methods

199. Nonviolent confinement 

Other...

Taste of this week’s reading

The learning questions posed to our clients by this blog on nonviolent actions were:

1. Under what conditions might you engage in nonviolent protest?
2. How do you maintain patience when the tides are going against your planned change?

Our most recent blog post was titled “Where did racism come from? Says Nina Jablonski, It’s just skin, silly!”

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Link to full blog in comments