People using civil disobedience and nonviolent direct action has a proud history of creating change across hundreds of years. Internationally the civil rights movement, gains made by suffragettes and people power driving the overthrow of dictators have inspired many. In Australia we have seen significant wins with hundreds of people participating in civil disobedience in the Franklin River and Jabiluka campaigns, as well as on many social justice issues. When nonviolent direct action is done well it can be relatively safe, a positive experience and lead to significant social change. Here are some resources to help you do it better.
Direct Action
- Delia’s guide to blockading – great overview of physical tactics
- Practical protest techniques – ways to put your body on the line safely
- Intercontinental blockade guide – tools of the trade
- Activists legal project (UK) – lots of useful practical resources
- Why we need to take direct action – A chapter from a Handbook for changing our world – good background and history
- Ruckus – we heart the wonderful Ruckus Society, an amazing page of manuals and resources for scouting, direct action, media and more
- Organising for power – heaps of direct action resources
Nonviolence
- The Albert Einstein Institution – heaps of good stuff, and links to NV related publications
- Global Nonviolent Action Database – a fascinating resource of (mainly North American) case studies
- How to start a revolution – a film and related resources on the work of Gene Sharp
- Waging nonviolence – people powered news and analysis on nonviolence
- Praxis makes perfect – awesome collection of resources on all kinds of things
- Washington Peace Centre – resources
- Nonviolence trainers manual – excellent manual for nonviolence trainers with great exercises and case studies
*please note, our friends in the mining lobby don’t seem to understand how “the internet” works. Just because we have listed a range of websites that collectively link to 1000’s of resources and web pages doesn’t mean we endorse every tactic listed within. We advocate for nonviolent action, but its up to every individual to make up their own mind about what tactics they want to use, and we just want to help collate useful information so you can.