Nonviolent Action Resources and Training

Nonviolent movements are statistically more effective at combatting authoritarianism than violent resistance.

Anyone can engage in nonviolent action: from quiet acts of disruption to consumer boycotts to walkouts to large-scale protests. When you get large numbers of people engaged in these acts of defiance and building of alternatives, they can take power back from a repressive regime.

Nonviolent resistance makes repression backfire. When governments use violence against nonviolent movements, it tends to backfire as more people condemn the government’s use of force and shift their support away from the regime.

Nonviolent tactics attract people and lead to “defections” within institutions sustaining authoritarian regimes—think military, civil service, businesses, faith communities, media, unions, or the judiciary. We’re already seeing these acts of defiance tick up, and when one person takes a public stand, the momentum starts to build.