The following is a summarized blueprint for effective nonviolent action. This is useful in the classroom to help students appreciate the depth of nonviolent thought and the importance of building multi-tiered, long-term political movements.
1. Forge and Foster Philosophical Depth and a Recognition of Universal Dignity
- Recognize the profound possibilities of existence. Do not accept that oppression is inevitable. There are endless examples of healthy relationships and healthy communities. We are not destined to live in misery and we will be paralyzed if we think otherwise.
- Attach the meaning of your struggle to deeper truths about life and existence. Recognize that all living things deserve the right to live and enjoy the freedom to pursue their own versions of safety, autonomy, connection, and a sense of purpose.
- Recognize that life is precious and valuable for all living things. This narrative can be rooted in religion, that we are all God’s creatures, or in a secular view, that life is fragile and destruction is permanent.
- Cultivate a robust individual and collective moral identity. We are good people doing good things to usher in a better world.
- Compel those in the movement to purge themselves of narratives that glorify dominance, revenge, sadism, exclusivity, and narrow ideologies. Demonstrate that these narratives are toxic on a personal level, a public level, and political level.
- Work to transcend pettiness and keep focused on the collective goals. It’s hard to sustain a fight with a team that is overly concerned with their own personal comforts and relative status.
- Make the movement attractive to people. Your success will depend almost entirely on mass participation. Be friendly, welcoming, and inclusive. Find ways to ensure that anyone who wants to help has a way to help. Build camaraderie by hosting parties, concerts, and other events and activities that people enjoy.
2. Empower Oppressed Groups and Build Resilience
- Strengthen community ties. Create and strengthen opportunities for people to connect and get to know one another. This can range from hosting simple events for people to meet to organizing services for those in need.
- Create a culture of moral solidarity across lines that traditionally divide social groups.
- Strengthen narratives of personal and social value (but be careful not to fall into the same tribal trap that leads to oppression).
- Create a culture of “empowered suffering” in which sacrifices for the cause are widely recognized and imbued with meaning. Cultivate the ability to avoid being baited into appearing aggressive or violent.
- Examine the nature of the oppressive system so people can navigate it safely.
3. Weaken the Pillars of Power of the Oppressor
- Examine the nature of the oppressive system so people can generate effective strategies to dismantle it.
- Weaken the system of belief that justifies or rationalizes oppression. We accept relationships of power because of underlying beliefs, historical narratives, and mythologies. You must debunk the beliefs and narratives the oppressor uses to justify their actions.
- Weaken the financial incentives for continuing oppression. Oppression is almost always rooted in financial profit for those in power. Work to erase that profit.
- Weaken the social incentives for continuing oppression. People often participate in oppressive actions to maintain or improve their relative status in a community. Work to make the opposite true: Those who participate in oppression must lose social status.
- Expose the scope and scale of oppression, especially to those who might otherwise never see it. Systems of oppression often operate in a manner that obscures or denies the brutality involved. Make sure the brutality and injustice is easy to see and understand.
- Strengthen the opposition within the oppressor’s political system. Find allies who also oppose the power structure. Even if your issue isn’t particularly important to them, having a common opponent will offer incentives to work together and share resources. If available, use the democratic elective process as much as possible.
- Recognize and dismantle the cultural/psychological elements that justify, rationalize, or sanitize oppression. These effectively subvert the moral identity by creating psychological distance and activating a sense of impurity or disgust. These elements include:
- Toxic Mythologies and Deep Narratives
- Scapegoating and Conspiracy Theories
- Caricature and Stereotypes
- Mockery
- Denial and Willful Ignorance
Much of the above summarizes Gene Sharp’s work From Dictatorship to Democracy, which also includes a long list of Nonviolent strategies. Blueprint for Revolution by Srdja Popovic and A Force More Powerful by Peter Ackerman and Jack Duvall offer compelling examples of these strategies in action.
Building Critical Thinking 