Nonviolent direct action

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Non-violent direct action

• Definition A technique of action for applying
  power in a conflict without the use of violence.
  A battle technique. It is NOT passive!
• (Gene Sharp)
• Theory Based on idea that states rely on their
  populace for their sources of power. Power is NOT
  self-generating. If groups refuse to obey, or do
  things that are forbidden, state power will be
  challenged or diminished.

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Nonviolence MLK

• Active nonviolent resistance to evil not a
  method for cowards - it does resist
• End result is redemption of opponent, not defeat
• Attack against the forces of evil, not the
  individual
• Willingness to accept suffering without
  retaliation
• avoids internal violence of spirit

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What are the 4 steps of NVDA, according to MLK,
Jr.?
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Three main types of nonviolent direct action
(Sharp)

• protest persuasion
• Mass petitions, picketing
• noncooperation
• Social, economic (e.g. boycott, strike),
  political (e.g. election boycott)
• Intervention
• Includes sit-ins, fasts, law-breaking, civil
  disobedience

5
Where does nonviolent intervention stop and
violence begin?

• How do we know the difference between violence
  and nonviolence?
• Are such categorizations problematic?

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The Sea Shepherd Conservation Societys Farley
Mowat chasing whaling ships.
Anti-nuclear protesters staging blockades along
the route of a shipment of radioactive waste to a
dump in Gorleben, Germany, on Sun., Nov. 11,
2001.
Jose Bove, who led a ransacking of a half-built
McDonalds in France.
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Why use NVDA?