The Methods of Nonviolent Action

The Politics of Nonviolent Action #2

by Gene Sharp

The Methods of Nonviolent Action is the second part of Gene Sharp’s three-volume landmark study The Politics of Nonviolent Action. The Methods of Nonviolent Action examines in detail 198 specific methods of this technique - broadly classed as nonviolent protest and persuasion, noncooperation (social, economic and political) and nonviolent intervention. Each of these specific “nonviolent weapons” is illustrated with actual cases. The other two parts of the three-volume work are Power and Struggle and The Dynamics of Nonviolent Action.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Activism, History, Political Science, Sociology

345 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1973

About the author

Gene Sharp was an American political scientist. He was the founder of the Albert Einstein Institution, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the study of nonviolent action, and professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. He was known for his extensive writings on nonviolent struggle, which have influenced numerous anti-government resistance movements around the world.
Sharp received the 2008 Int’l Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award for his lifelong commitment to the defense of freedom, democracy, and the reduction of political violence through scholarly analysis of the power of nonviolent action. Unofficial sources have claimed that Sharp was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2015, and had previously been nominated three times, in 2009, 2012 and 2013. Sharp was widely considered the favorite for the 2012 award. In 2011, he was awarded the El-Hibri Peace Education Prize. In 2012, he was a recipient of the Right Livelihood Award for "developing and articulating the core principles and strategies of nonviolent resistance and supporting their practical implementation in conflict areas around the world".

Reviews

[ivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gene Sharp's second volume in the landmark nonviolence theory study, "Politics of Nonviolent Action," outlines 198 types of nonviolent action, including historical examples, divided into seven sections: protest and persuasion, social noncooperation, economic boycotts, the strike, political noncooperation, and nonviolent intervention. A list of the 198 methods is available from Peace Magazine.

[Nelly Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely thorough presentation and research of 198 (!) non-violent methods to oppose a regime, employer etc. Completed by vast historical examples of each method.

[Shalom House]

This series takes the "idealism" of using nonviolent action for social change and resolution of conflicts and lays out how to do it. It gives strategy. It give analysis. It gives examples the world over.

[Dianita Caballero · Rating 5 out of 5]

Con todo lo que anda pasando en el mundo, este libro es para buscar inspiración de todas las formas que tenemos como personas para rebelarnos por las injusticias.

[Morgan]

I flipped through this at a friend's house and it is utterly ridiculous—a book like this can't pull punches if it aims to be any good. Sharp surveys nonviolent action in every conceivable form from relentless singing and parading, to chatting it up with the soldiers of an occupying power. Every form of action has a detailed example next to it (most seem to be citations of resistance to German and Soviet forces in the 20th century, my fave being the students that tied a suitcase to the arm of a statue of Stalin). Does a goodreads friend have a copy to loan me?

[John Hawkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is more of an encyclopedia of nonviolent methods, laden with history, easily scanned where you can stop on areas that pertain to your situation.