Pryanka Peñafiel Cevallos

Since the creation of the Regional Institute for the Study and Practice of Strategic Nonviolent Action in the Americas, through our virtual courses, webinars, blogs and podcasts, we have had the objective of disseminating the knowledge, experiences and voices of the different campaigns and nonviolent resistance movements in our region. However, many people who attend our courses, who read us, listen to us or have some contact with our project, continue to ask us: what is violence and what is peace? What is nonviolence? What is Nonviolent action? Is it the same as pacifism? How do I know that what I do in my community is nonviolent action? So, we realized that that’s exactly where we should start, clarifying what nonviolent resistance is and why we have so much interest in it.

Nonviolent resistance is a method of struggle with a long history whose roots could be traced back to specific religions and cultures, to ethics and individual responsibility, or to Mahatma Gandhi’s well-known resistance to British colonialism in India. Gandhi understood nonviolence not only as opposition to the narrow concept of violence, that is, physical, direct, visible, overt violence, but as a form of persuasion to win over opponents by collectively confronting social injustices, but without doing harm. —by this we do not mean that we must maintain the “peace” and the status quo of society. From nonviolent resistance, peace is understood not only in a negative way, as the absence of physical violence, but also in a positive way: that is, peace as the absence of direct, structural and cultural violence that deprives human beings of their rights. rights.

Several academics have insisted on the need to distinguish nonviolence as a philosophy of life based on ethical principles, from nonviolent resistance, understood as a strategic political practice and action. In the 20th century, nonviolence began to be understood more as a deliberate tool for social change, moving from a definition anchored in religious or ethical principles to a more pragmatic understanding, as reflective, strategic and institutionalized methods of social change. And already in the 21st century, nonviolent resistance began to be studied as an independent academic field with its own methods, theoretical and methodological roots.

Gene Sharp, one of the leaders of the theory of nonviolent resistance, rejected the use of the term “nonviolence” to refer to political actions, due to its ambiguity and confusion with various types of principled nonviolence. He proposed calling nonviolent struggle various specific methods of psychological, social, economic, and political action that do not use physical violence. Nonviolent resistance methods and tactics are varied and may include acts of omission, commission, and a combination of both (see 198 Nonviolent Action Methods [Sharp] and 346 Nonviolent Resistance Tactics [Beer]). Therefore, nonviolent resistance—or satyagraha, direct action, nonviolent action, nonviolent struggle, people power, civil resistance, among many more—refers to the use of nonviolent and unconventional means against an opponent(s) to achieve changes in the face of a situation perceived as unfair. That is, nonviolent resistance has a pragmatic approach; It is used for the effectiveness of the actions, whether to achieve reforms or structural changes.

With this, what we want to explain is that many of the people who form and adhere to a nonviolent action movement or campaign are not necessarily motivated by nonviolence based on ethical principles, but by the effectiveness of civil resistance. Nonviolent resistance has no direct relationship with pacifism. In other words, not all people who practice nonviolent actions are pacifists or have a specific religion, because nonviolent resistance does not determine a specific way of life based on certain beliefs. On the contrary, civil resistance calls for activism and direct, planned, strategic and disciplined action, carrying out actions that are based on respect for universal human rights and that aim to build more just and inclusive societies.

Although some activists are ethically committed to nonviolence as a way of life, nonviolent action does not require that activists be morally committed to pacifism or nonviolence as an ethical principle. What do I need, then, to understand nonviolent resistance? We need to understand its effectiveness factor, understand that resistance is based on strategic, sustainable and tactically diverse methods, carried out by people to exercise power without using violence. In her book, Peace and Conflict Studies, Cécile Mouly explains that the main characteristics of nonviolent action or civil resistance are:

1. It is used by citizens seeking social change to overcome challenges posed by opponents who are more powerful in the traditional sense of power.

2. It makes use of unconventional methods (i.e. extra-institutional). This does not mean that people involved in civil resistance campaigns reject conventional methods such as negotiations, judicial processes or electoral processes. In practice, many nonviolent movements combine civil resistance with conventional methods. For example, the nonviolent resistance campaign against the Pinochet regime in Chile (1983–1989), which culminated in a referendum.

3. It implies not resorting to physical violence or threatening to resort to it.

4. This is a sustained effort. A protest is not enough to talk about civil resistance. A process is required in which various social actors seek change through various nonviolent methods.

Nonviolent action understands that the consent and obedience of ordinary people sustains the powerful. Therefore, if people begin to question the prevailing order, withdraw their consent and refuse to obey, the powerful will lose their power. It also recognizes that by reducing their dependence on the powerful and achieving greater autonomy, aggrieved groups can gain power. Thanks to its ability to alter the balance of power, nonviolent action has managed to put an end to colonial systems, dictatorships and many other forms of injustice. In short, its effectiveness in achieving results and changes, its participation advantage over violent insurgencies, and its likelihood of strengthening democratic regimes is what drives us to believe that the way to build more just and equal societies is through Of action. It is not passivity, the maintenance of the status quo or the defense of a negative peace that will change the world: it is the strategic and planned actions of nonviolent resistance.

Pryanka Peñafiel Cevallos

Coordinator of the Regional Institute for the Study and Practice of Strategic Nonviolent Action in the Americas. He has a research master’s degree in International Relations from Flacso Ecuador and is a doctoral student at the University of Massachusetts – Boston (United States).

Translated by Damian Vasquez