Nonviolence beyond the state: International NGOs and local nonviolent mobilization (original) (raw)
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/15691497-12341429 This article interprets the globalization of nonviolence and nonviolent resistance through the lens of Manfred B. Steger’s concept of the “global imaginary.” It argues that the globalization of nonviolence and the global imaginary are mutually reinforcing processes. Nonviolent protests are driven by local issues and are, thus, context specific and local but, as in the case of the Arab uprisings, as they spread through the MENA and beyond, the uprisings provided historically linked examples of a growing global consciousness, a “global” we. Please see the journal web page for full article or email me: http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/10.1163/15691497-12341429.
Non-State Violent Actors and Social Movement Organizations
Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change, 2017
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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...
2021
We are in the midst of the largest wave of nonviolent mass movements in world history; meanwhile, few researchers have examined movement features that improve the chances of resistance campaigns receiving international support. This thesis argues that nonviolent resistance campaigns are more likely to receive foreign support when faced with high levels of repression than violent resistance campaigns. The theoretical argument builds on backfiring in the civil resistance literature, which describes the strategic advantage of nonviolent methods under asymmetric conditions. This thesis offers a temporally disaggregated research design that analyzes the dynamics of 350 violent and nonviolent resistance campaigns from 1945-2013. The aim of this thesis is to uncover if there is empirical evidence of international backfiring. Based on the results from the analysis, I cannot conclude with certainty that nonviolent resistance campaigns are more likely than their violent counterparts to receiv...
Being (almost) like a State: Challenges and Opportunities of Transnational Non-Governmental Activism
International NGOs become viable “global players” when they selectively emulate states and their desire for autonomy as a prerequisite for influence. Actors in the global system are drawn towards similar forms of organization and mimic others to increase their own legitimacy. States are characterized by their exclusive control over a territory, a population, the means of violence, and their right to representation in international affairs. Many transnational NGOs eschew exclusive control over a territory or the monopoly of violence, but they use specific strategies to mimic the state model. Non-governmental organizations often create a membership base (“population”), a hierarchical and professional governance structure (“government”), independent research capabilities (“intelligence”), a coherent set of goals pursued against other state and non-state entities (“foreign policy”), and an often contentious repertoire of activism (“diplomacy”).
The dynamics of conflict (de)escalation by social movements or political opposition groups have attracted crossdisciplinary interest among social scientists, but there remain several knowledge gaps to be filled. On the one hand, there is already extensive research on the shifts from unarmed expressions of collective grievances to the adoption of violent strategies by oppressed constituencies or ‘minorities at risk’, as well as on the transition from armed insurgency to negotiations, demobilization, reintegration and conventional politics. However, there is scarce scholarship on the phenomenon of armed groups shifting their conflict-waging strategies from violent to nonviolent means, especially in contexts which cannot be resolved by force but are also ‘unripe’ for conventional de-escalation methods through negotiation and political integration. This article offers a first attempt to fill this conceptual and empirical gap, by investigating the nature and the drivers of transitions from armed strategies to nonviolent methods of contentious collective action on the part of non-state conflict actors. It focuses in particular on the internal and relational/environmental factors which underpin their decisionmaking process, from a change of leadership and a pragmatic re-evaluation of the goals and means of insurgency, to the search for new local or international allies and the cross-border emulation or diffusion of new repertoires of action. This multilevel analysis draws from past research on various self-determination or revolutionary movements which fit the scope of analysis (i.e. Nepal, Egypt, Palestine, West Papua, East Timor, Mexico and Western Sahara). The article also points to the need for more systematic enquiry on these cases through in-depth comparative empirical analysis.
European Journal of Social Psychology, 2018
Drawing on literatures on social movements and collective action, mentalization and morality, four studies investigated whether a social movement's use of nonviolence can increase people's willingness to support and join the movement. In a correlational study with a nested design, across 23 movements perceived use of nonviolence predicted participants' willingness to support and join the movement (Study 1, n = 203). This effect was also found experimentally, with Americans supporting nonviolent movements more than violent ones, in hypothetical and real foreign countries (Study 2-3, ns = 606 and 373). Study 4 (n = 247) replicated the effects in participants' own country. The effects were transmitted by attribution of mental states to nonviolent movements and subsequent greater perceived morality (Study 2-4). This research demonstrates that nonviolence can benefit social movements in terms of support and mobilization potential, and that these benefits are rooted in perceptions of mental capacity, humanness, and morality.
Middle Atlantic Review of Latin American Studies, 2018
Latin America has been a laboratory for innovative strategic nonviolent action to confront oppression, corruption, human rights violations, and authoritarianism. One of the most salient explanations for why some movements achieve greater scale and effectiveness in meeting their objectives is the skills of movement organizers in unifying the population, planning strategic moves, and maintaining nonviolent discipline. The training and education to improve these skills often requires resources, transnational networks, and information sharing from external actors to complement the contextual knowledge, local legitimacy, and embedded institutional networks of local insiders. This essay proposes a model for international support of nonviolent action training and education that avoids the pitfalls of imposed liberal peacebuilding and colonizing hierarchies that could undermine movement legitimacy and expose activists to greater scrutiny and repression. In order to illustrate how the model works in practice, the essay examines the case of the Regional Institute for the Study and Practice of Strategic Nonviolent Action in the Americas.
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.