"Imagining Global Nonviolence." Perspectives on Global Development and Technology 16, no. 1-3 (2017): 193-207. (original) (raw)

Nonviolence beyond the state: International NGOs and local nonviolent mobilization

International Sociology, 2019

Studies of nonviolence have taught us much about what makes nonviolence successful, emphasizing the importance of local circumstance and strategy. Little attention has been given to the effect of ties with international organizations on nonviolence: that is, how the embeddedness of local actors in global networks shapes nonviolent mobilization. In this article, a world society framework is applied with the objective of understanding the transnational factors shaping local nonviolent mobilization. Through global and historical models exploring political, economic, and cultural factors, it is found that: first, the global integration and structure of the nation-state is an important and significant factor in shaping the emergence of nonviolent movements; second, integration into global civil society networks significantly increases the likelihood for large-scale nonviolent resistance; and third, ties to a specialized network of nonviolent organizations significantly shape the path tow...

The Violence of Nonviolence: Problematizing Nonviolent Resistance in Iran and Egypt

Societies Without Borders, 2012

Our central argument is that the hegemonic story of nonviolent resistance is reinforcing the underlying hegemonic story of neoliberalism. It is hard to dispute that the most popular brand of nonviolence, articulated by Gene Sharp and his followers, has helped people overthrow authoritarian regimes across the globe. Yet Sharp's nonviolence also promotes the spread of neoliberal freedom and democracy, which cause multiple forms of visible and invisible violence. This article's first section examines significant details in Sharp's hegemonic story of nonviolent resistance and problematizes its limited understanding of violence. The following section relates Sharp's approach to Iran's Green Movement and Egypt's Revolution. It shows how strategic nonviolence enabled these social movements, but also pushed them toward neoliberalism. The final section returns to the ideas and practices of Gandhi for a counter-hegemonic story of nonviolent resistance as well as freedom and democracy. We conclude that Gandhi's approach is more promising for people struggling toward ways of life promoting dignity, self-rule, and love of humanity, both in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world.

Rethinking the " Local " in Global Resistance: Beyond Global Civil Society

This thesis concentrates on resistance to (and emancipation from) neoliberal globalisation, arguing that the most prevalent academic conceptualisation of such dissidence in its totality - “Global Civil Society”, or GCS – is founded upon a trinity of misconceptions: (1) the notion of a declining nation-state; (2) an idealistic evaluation of the Internet’s revolutionary promise; and (3) firm confidence in the burgeoning NGO sector as the core agency of transformation. Having established the dynamics of globalisation (and its associated discontents), I critique these three central premises of GCS, concluding that the model invites irreconcilable disharmony among its constituents, (further) marginalises subaltern voices, and appears markedly vulnerable to tactics of co-optation and repression waged by status quo forces. As a result, we must look to an alternative mode of resistance, an alternative vision; as the “anti-globalisation” movement reiterates: “another world is possible”. However we do have to make sure that world does not reproduce age-old forms of oppression. Accordingly, this thesis advocates a shift from large-scale organisations of global civil society that seem to obscure or stifle grassroots agendas toward small-scale, community-focussed, and more place-based mobilisations that work in concert to challenge the very foundations of the global economy (and, indeed, mitigate some of its most unsavoury effects). While this paradigmatic shift seems to hinge on a demystification of the rhetoric associated with neoliberal globalisation in popular culture, it builds potentially upon thousands of years of human experience at living within subsistence-oriented societies, and has exciting possibilities for democracy, self-determination, community, and diversity.

The internationalisation of nonviolent resistance: the case of the BDS campaign

2018

This paper seeks to identify some of the factors that can enhance the strength and influence of international civil society solidarity networks that mobilise around issues of concern. To this end, we focus on the Palestinian-inspired Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign and examine the significant differences that exist between it and the global anti-apartheid movement from which the Palestinian initiative derived much of its inspiration and strategic thinking. Differences between the contemporary BDS campaign and the anti-apartheid movement of the 1970s and ’80s fall into three main categories: internal factors related to the organisational profile and membership of the anti-apartheid movement; ideational factors that influenced the level of legitimacy that movement enjoyed; and contextual factors particular to the socio-political and economic environment within which the anti-apartheid movement found itself operating. We conclude by emphasising the importance of the dyn...

Understanding nonviolent resistance: An introduction Introductions

The events of the Arab Spring of 2011 have made clear the importance and potential efficacy of nonviolent resistance, as well as the field's inability to explain the onset and outcome of major nonviolent uprisings. Until recently, conflict scholars have largely ignored nonviolent resistance. This issue features new theoretical and empirical explorations of the causes and consequences of nonviolent resistance, stressing the role that unarmed, organized civilians can play in shaping the course of conflicts. Contributors demonstrate the importance of treating nonviolent and violent strategies, as well as conventional politics strategies, as alternative choices for engaging the state, show how gender ideology can influence which opposition groups use nonviolent resistance, and suggest that the causes of civil war and nonviolent resistance often differ. Other pieces highlight the role of public attitudes regarding whether nonviolent resistance and violence are employed, how experience with activism and repression by the state can shape activists' perceptions of justice, and how the perceptions of resistance leaders can influence strategic choices. Moreover, several articles examine the key role that security force defections can play in the success of nonviolent resistance, how micro-level nonviolent tactics can improve security in civil war, and how nonviolent campaigns can influence the stability of autocratic states. These contributions suggest that rigorous empirical study of civilian-based contentious politics (rather than only violent contention by armed non-state actors) must be incorporated into the conflict literature. Improved theory and data on the subject will help researchers and policymakers to shape strategies to support these movements when appropriate, and to manage changes in the international system that result from the success of nonviolent uprisings.

The making of a global movement: cycles of protest and scales of action

The Sociological Review, 2010

This article addresses some of the issues concerning the trans-nationalisation of collective action by focusing on the White Overalls and the Disobedients and their participation in three transnational cycles of protest that took place at different geographical levels – local, macro-regional, and global – between the second half of the 1990s and the early 2000s. The first part briefly discusses some historical, transnational precursors to global collective action and will argue that the Global Justice Movement was a global and original actor with reference to three dimensions of contentious action: the organisational dimension, framing processes and campaigns. The second part focuses on the origins and identity of the White Overalls, while the third describes their analysis of globalization and looks at how the scale of action has shifted. The analysis of these three cycles of protest shows that the global shift has not superseded other scales of action, but rather has been interwov...

Democratic Insurrection: Constructing the Common in Global Resistance

The central challenge for theorists and practitioners of radical politics today is to develop the tools for collective action on a global scale, but also account for the specificity of diverse local struggles and promote the free transformation of individual and collective subjectivities through political action. This article examines the radical democratic theory of Chantal Mouffe, post-sovereignty cosmopolitanism of David Held and contemporary anarchist theory, in light of participant research in contemporary global resistance movements. As none of these concepts can meet the challenges facing global resistance movements today or the demands of liberty and equality, ‘democratic insurrection’ is intended as both an alternative theoretical category and a practical tool for radical politics. Defined by a forum–affinity–network system, democratic insurrection is based on voluntary associations and the production of the common. By expanding the democratic moments of deliberation, decision and action across time and space, democratic insurrection allows for democratic practice and acts of resistance on a range of scales and organisational forms. Radical politics today demands the theorisation and practice of democracy beyond the state and insurrection beyond armed revolt. Democratic insurrection demonstrates the possibility of such theory and practice, but must still overcome the persistence of dominant power relations that continue to plague global resistance movements from within.