The methods of nonviolent action are not weapons we turn to in a crisis. They are the tools of cultures and societies evolving toward justice, equality, respect, self-governance and sustainability.
A recent New York Times interview with Srdja Popovic, a former member of the Otpor movement that unseated Serbia’s Slobodan Milosevic, characterized nonviolent struggle as “nonviolent war.” While nonviolent struggle has proven to be twice as effective as violence in resolving many forms of intense conflict (Chenoweth and Stephan, Why Civil Resistance Works), it is inappropriate to frame nonviolent struggle as a form of warfare.
The methods of nonviolent action are not weapons we turn to in a crisis; they are the tools of a democratic society. They are essential components of the system of checks and balances, offering ordinary people the tools of boycotts, strikes, sit-ins, shut-downs, occupations, blockades, noncooperation, protest and persuasion, civil disobedience and more. The framework of these actions is not war; it is the daily, engaged participation of citizens of any society evolving toward justice, equality, respect, self-governance and sustainability.