Introduction
A guide with resources, directories and media about power-building and nonviolent action collated by the Democracy Resource Hub.
- Learn grassroots organizing techniques and nonviolent protest strategies to amplify marginalized voices and drive systemic change.
- Explore civil resistance methods, community mobilization tactics, and intersectional organizing approaches to challenge injustice and shape inclusive democratic processes through peaceful activism.
What are power-building and nonviolent action and why are they important for democracy?
Building power through nonviolent action and community organizing is a cornerstone of a thriving democracy. It:
- Amplifies marginalized voices
- Resists democratic backsliding
- Drives systemic change
- Creates pathways for citizens to shape decisions affecting their lives
In today’s complex political landscape, these skills are crucial for mobilizing people, challenging injustice, and creating pressure for sustainable solutions.
Power-Building and nonviolent action aren’t just for activists and organizers – these approaches provide diverse options for ordinary people to engage and build power by working together to foster a more robust, participatory democracy that serves all citizens.
How does power-building and nonviolent action fit into the broader movement for democratic renewal?
Power-building and nonviolent action work synergistically with other key approaches:
Peacebuilding: Offers communication tools to foster understanding amongst diverse groups and manage intra-movement conflict.
- SNAP: Synergizing Nonviolent Action and Peacebuilding Guide
- Bridge-Building and Power-Building: An Ecosystem Approach to Social Changes
Strengthening Democracy: Includes participatory democracy innovations that elevate grassroots voices.
- Harnessing Our Power to End Political Violence Guide
- Nonviolent Action and Pro-Democracy Struggles
- The Activists’ Handbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Participatory Democracy – Book Review
Strategic Planning: Helps assess opportunities, set goals, and ensure nonviolent tactics are deployed effectively.
- Block, Bridge and Build: Playbook for an Inclusive Multi-Racial Democracy
- When to Talk and When to Fight: The Strategic Choice between Dialogue and Resistance
Narrative & Storytelling: Unites movements and provides a shared sense of purpose.
Powerbuilding & Nonviolent Action Skillsets & Resources
How can grassroots and community organizing help build power?
Grassroots organizing develops leadership and builds capacity in communities for sustained collective action on local issues. It empowers people to advocate for themselves, strengthens movements, and creates a foundation for democratic engagement. This approach ensures renewal efforts are grounded in local needs and perspectives. Here are some resources to learn more:
- Guide to Organizing from the Leading Change Network
- Introduction to Digital Organizing
- Building a Resiliency Network: A Toolkit for Building Community Resilience during a Contentious Election Cycle
- Grassroots Community Organizing Fundamentals For Beginners (Online course by the Democracy Labs)
Case Studies: Organizing
Visit the Strategic Planning page for more resources about organizing.
How can nonviolent action approaches reinforce organizing to build power?
Nonviolent Direct Action uses creative resistance through protests, civil disobedience, strikes, and other disruptive tactics to dramatize injustice and press for change. When strategically deployed, these methods become potent forces for rights and democracy, enabling effective challenges to injustice even under severe repression. Here are some resources to learn more:
- Nonviolent Direct Action (NVDA): Start Here
- SNAP Action Guide: Units 7 & 8 cover Sequencing Nonviolent Action to build power and sustainable solutions.
- The Trifecta of Civil Resistance: Unity, Planning, Discipline
- Beautiful Action Trainer Modules (BATMo): Resources for Nonviolent Action Trainers
- 198 Methods of Nonviolent Action by Gene Sharp
Case Studies:
Visit the Strategic Planning page for more resources about how nonviolent action fits into a strategic plan.
How can we build power to renew democracy through coalitions, campaigns and movements?
Building power through coalitions, campaigns, and movements, is about uniting people around a shared vision. Coalitions bring diverse groups together, campaigns mobilize for specific goals, and movements sustain long-term engagement. This approach connects grassroots energy with strategic action, fostering broad participation in democratic renewal while achieving tangible results. Here are some resources to learn more:
- Guide to Campaign and Movement Building by the Leading Change Network
- Systems Thinking for Campaigning and Organizing
- SNAP Action Guide: Unit 3: Dialogue to Support Coalition Building
- The Path of Most Resistance: A Step-by-Step Guide to Planning Nonviolent Campaigns
- New to Activism, Organising and Campaigning? Start Here!
Visit the Strategic Planning page for more resources about movement and coalition building.
How can we use activism to mobilize to defend democracy against authoritarianism?
Anti-authoritarian mobilization involves defending democratic institutions and norms against threats. This includes pro-democracy activism, monitoring abuses of power, and modeling inclusive forms of democracy. It focuses on protecting essential features like freedom, rule of law, pluralism, and free & fair elections. Here are some resources to learn more:
- Authoritarianism: How You Know It When You See It
- Countering Authoritarianism
- 1/6: The Graphic Novel: What if the Attack on the U.S. Capitol Succeeded?
- The Checklist to End Tyranny: How Dissidents will Win 21st Century Civil Resistance Campaigns
- Violence and the Backfire Effect
Visit the Strengthening Democracy page for more resources about Defending Democracy.
How can we organize for social, economic, environmental & racial justice?
Organizing for social, environmental, and racial justice involves holistic advocacy to dismantle interlocking systems of oppression. This approach centers marginalized voices, connects issues, and builds broad solidarity for equity. It's essential for creating inclusive democratic systems and addresses environmental justice concerns. Here are some resources to learn more:
- A Community Guide for Opposing Hate
- Get in Formation: A Community Safety Toolkit
- Justice, Diversity & Inclusion: Start Here
- Authentic Relational Conversations: Reaching Across Difference to Build a Pro-Democracy Movement
- Making Your Activism Accessible
Visit the Peacebuilding page for more resources about belonging & inclusion.
Power-Building & Nonviolent Action Directory
The Democracy Resource Hub Directory is organized into three groups:
- Networks: Organizations to join and work with.
- Training Organizations: Offering workshops, trainings, webinars and courses.
- Resource Libraries: Information hubs for deeper exploration.
The directories on this page only include organizations and libraries related to “Power-Building & Nonviolent Action.” (Full Directory listing available here)
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Power-Building & Nonviolent Action Network Directory
Table View (mobile friendly)
Power-Building & Nonviolent Action Training Directory
Power-Building & Nonviolent Action Resource Libraries
Featured Media
Newsletters and Blogs
- VISTA by The Horizons Project
The Horizons project seeks to strengthen key relationships, foster collaborations, and channel resources within the system of social change to address injustice, advance societal healing, and reimagine our democracy.Subscribe here - Waging Nonviolence
Waging Nonviolence is a nonprofit media organization dedicated to providing original reporting and expert analysis of social movements around the world.
Books
- The Neutrality Trap: Disrupting and Connecting for Social Change by Bernie Mayer & Jacqueline N. Font-Guzmán
- We Will Not Cancel Us: And Other Dreams of Transformative Justice by adrienne maree brown
Book Review - Healing Resistance: A Radically Different Response to Harm by Kazu Haga
- Beautiful Trouble: A Toolbox for the Revolution Assembled by Andre W Boyd
Articles, Essays &
- “Combatting Authoritarianism: The Skills and Infrastructure Needed to Organize Across Difference” by Maria J. Stephan and Julia Roig
- “We Need People Power to Address a World in Peril: A Framing Essay for the 2023 Copenhagen People Power Conference by Hardy Merriman
- “The Pillars Project: Analyzing the Threat” by Jonathan Pinckney
Reports
- Harnessing Our Power to End Political Violence Guide (Source: The HOPE-PV Project, 2024)
- Fostering a Fourth Democratic Wave: A Playbook for Countering the Authoritarian Threat (Source: Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, Atlantic Council, 2023)
- Powering to Peace: Integrated Civil Resistance and Peacebuilding Strategies (Source: International Center on Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC) Special Report Series 2017)
- Working Tirelessly for Peace and Equality Civil Resistance and Peacebuilding in Liberia ( Source: International Center on Nonviolent Conflict, 2021.)
- Nonviolent Civic Action in Support of Human Rights and Democracy (Source: ICNC, study commissioned by the European Parliament’s Subcommitte on Human rights, 2009)
Podcasts
Collective impact Forum Podcast
The Collective Impact Forum is here to share resources, tools, and stories to support social change makers working in cross-sector collaboration.
Recommended Episodes:
- Building Collective Power to Strengthen Collaboration
- Krista Tippett: Collectively Remaking Our World
Democracy Undone: The Authoritarian’s Playbook
In this project, Democracy Undone: The Authoritarian’s Playbook, GroundTruth reporting fellows chronicled how seven nationalist leaders in different countries seem to be working from the same playbook.
The Nonviolent Action Lab Podcast brings you the latest research, insights, and ideas on how nonviolent action can — or sometimes fails — to transform injustice.
Recommended Episodes:
The Anti-Authoritarian Podcast is here to help anyone concerned about creeping authoritarianism and fascism in the U.S. and beyond to confront strategy questions that will strengthen their work to advance multiracial democracy and stop the rise of authoritarianism.
Recommended Episodes:
- Harnessing Our Power to End Political Violence, with Hardy Merriman and Naomi Washington-Leapheart
- How We Got Here, with Suzanne Pharr
Videos & Movies
ICNC Webinar: Civil Resistance Tactics in the 21st Century
A Force More Powerful – English – India / Nashville / South Africa
A Force More Powerful – English – Denmark / Poland / Chile
The SNAP Guide – An Animated Discussion on Nonviolent Action and Peacebuilding
Democracy Undone: The Authoritarian’s Playbook – Video Playlist
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