How Nonviolent Struggle Works (Sharp, Gene)

Notes from relevant books on Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Defence, Development and Humanitarian Action.

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Sharp, Gene. How Nonviolent Struggle Works. The Albert Einstein Institution, 2015.

These are my personal notes from this book. They try to give a general idea of its content, but do not in any case replace reading the actual book. Think of them as teasers to encourage you to read further!

Background

Traditionally, it is believed that in those conflicts there exist only two alternative ways of acting: passive submission or violent action. There is, however, a third alternative: Struggle by means of nonviolent action.

belief that “the exercise of power depends on the consent of the ruled who, by withdrawing that consent, can control and even destroy the power of their opponents. ”

Frequently it is presumed that “power flows from violence and can only be controlled by greater violence.” In fact, “power derives from sources within society that people can restrict or cut off by withdrawing their cooperation.

“Repression is probable.” A strong but nonviolent resistance effort is necessary to combat the repression. “The opponents’ repression can be made to work against them by means of ‘political jiu-jitsu.’

“Four mechanisms are explored by means of which nonviolent action can bring about victory: conversion (the least frequent), accommodation, nonviolent coercion, and disintegration. Massive noncooperation can paralyze and disintegrate even systems of oppression.”

It does not examine the relation of this technique to ethics,

“The aim is to influence behavior,”

violence does not directly make people behave or perform or participate; it can only make it hurt if they don’t.”

“Violent action and nonviolent action are different techniques of trying to make it unrewarding for people to do certain things,

POWER AND STRUGGLE

The social view of power sees governments or other systems to be dependent on the people’s goodwill, decisions and support.

How much power they have depends on how much power society will grant

Sources of political power

·      Authority

·      Human resources:

·      Skills and knowledge:

·      Intangible factors:

·      Material resources:

·      Sanctions:

Sanctions may be applied, but the rulers need more than reluctant outward compliance. Sanctions will be inadequate as long as acceptance of the rulers’ authority is limited.

The question is to what degree people obey without threats, and to what degree they continue to disobey despite punishment.

The internal stability of a regime can be measured by the ratio between the strength of the social forces that it controls and the strength of the social forces that it has against it.

There are multiple reasons to obey

·      Habit

·      Fear of sanctions

·      Moral obligation

·      Self-interest

·      Psychological identification with the rulers

·      Indifference

·      Absence of self-confidence among subjects.

Obedience is not inevitable Obedience always varies in degree

combination of fear of sanctions (or intimidated consent) and free consent (offered on perceived merits). Both operate through the will of the subject.

Obedience only exists when one has complied with the command. If I walk to jail, I have obeyed. If I am dragged there, I have not obeyed.

(The ditch remains undug even if the men who refused to dig it have been shot.) It is not the sanctions themselves which produce obedience, but the fear of them.

Obedience remains essentially voluntary. Therefore, all government is based upon consent.

But they may also consent because they are unwilling to pay the price for the refusal of consent. Refusal requires self-confidence, motivation to resist, and may involve considerable inconvenience and suffering.

Freedom is not something which rulers “give” their subjects. It is something achieved in the interaction between society and government.

Consent can be withdrawn.

The answer to the problem of uncontrolled political power may therefore lie in learning how to carry out and maintain withdrawal of cooperation and obedience despite repression.

In most cases, violence may have been rejected because of considerations of practical effectiveness, and rarely for religious, ethical, or moral reasons.

THE METHODS OF NONVIOLENT ACTION

The many specific methods, or “weapons,” of nonviolent action are classified in three groups:

·      Protest and persuasion

·      Noncooperation

·      Nonviolent intervention

This listing of 198 methods is far from complete.

THE DYNAMICS OF NONVIOLENT ACTION

A prerequisite of nonviolent struggle is to cast off or control fear of acting independently and fear of the sufferings which may follow.

The nonviolent group should make, and be seen to make, every effort at a settlement before launching direct action. This greatly increases its moral position.

Negotiations are not a substitute for open struggle.

The nonviolent army, said Gandhi, should be so well-prepared as to make nonviolent war unnecessary.

Sharpening the focus for attack

The nonviolent leadership will do better if it concentrates action on the weakest points in the opponents’ case, policy, or system.

Some key elements in nonviolent strategy and tactics.

·      The indirect approach to the opponents’ power.

·      Psychological elements.

·      Geographical and physical elements.

·      Timing.

·      Numbers and strength.

·      The issue and concentration of strength.

·      The initiative.

While all of these are important, the most important of these will be the resistance strategy, including the type of pressures which are to be applied.

The time for action is also the time for self-reliance and internal strengthening.

With the launching of nonviolent action, basic—often latent—conflicts between the respective groups are brought to the surface and activated. Through the ensuing “creative conflict and tension,”

The final outcome of the challenge will be determined by the balance between the seriousness of the challenge and the degree to which the social and political milieu favors each side.

Sometimes, when confronted with nonviolent action, opponents and their officials become confused. This can occur when they have been surprised by events, or are unfamiliar with nonviolent action.

Frequently, opponents may react to the nonviolent challenge emotionally, seeing it largely as an affront, an indignity, as offensive behavior, and as a rejection of their authority and position. They may regard these aspects of the challenge as more important than the actual issues at stake.

In the face of direct physical violence, the key to success by the resisters is to refuse submission and to maintain discipline.

The maintenance of morale in nonviolent struggles is extremely important. There appear to be roughly four ways of doing this.

·      Maintaining rapport, feelings of group participation, and group solidarity

·      Generating incentives to carry on the struggle

·      Reducing grounds for capitulation

·      Restraints or sanctions

Effective organization and communication within the nonviolent group will also contribute to nonviolent discipline. Clear lines of command and communication can produce both general and specific instruction on behavior. “Marshals” can be used to help keep a demonstration nonviolent and disciplined. Pledges of nonviolent discipline have also been used.

In it, the nonviolent resisters can use the asymmetry of nonviolent means versus violent action to apply something like the Japanese martial art jiu-jitsu to their opponents. This throws the opponents off balance politically, causing their repression of the resisters to rebound against the opponents’ position and weaken their power. By remaining nonviolent while continuing the struggle, the resisters can improve their own power position.

Political jiu-jitsu operates among three broad groups:

·      Uncommitted third parties, whether on the local scene or the world level.

·      The opponents’ usual supporters.

·      The general grievance group.

distinguish four broad processes, or mechanisms, which can bring success:

·      conversion, the opponent comes around to  a new point of view which embraces the ends of the nonviolent actor.

·      accommodation, the opponents are neither converted nor nonviolently coerced.

·      nonviolent coercion, shifts  of social forces and power relationships may produce the changes sought by the activists against the will of the opponents, while the opponents remain in their positions.

·      Disintegration, the opponent regime or group completely falls apart.