Welcome to the Nonviolent Direct Action (NVDA) topic in the Commons Social Change Library. We have gathered a wide range of materials to inform the public in relation to strategic nonviolent campaigning.
Here are some suggested links. You can also narrow down the results in the NVDA Topic according to your interests by using the ‘Refine by Format’; ‘Refine by Topic’ (for cross overs with other topics eg Coalition Building); ‘Refine by Author’; and ‘Refine by Collection’ functions.
The Case for NVDA
- The success of nonviolent civil resistance: Erica Chenoweth at TEDxBoulder
- Breaking bad laws is how good laws get made: Amanda Tattersall
Theory and Philosophy of NVDA
- A collection of nonviolence quotes
- Gene Sharp’s 198 Methods of Nonviolent Action
- Book review of This is an Uprising: How Nonviolent Revolt Is Shaping the Twenty-First Century
Guides and Tips
- The Path of Most Resistance: A Step-by-Step Guide to Planning Nonviolent Campaigns
- Make Change: How-To’s for Effective Peaceful Protest
- How to start a direct action group to make Martin Luther King proud
- Affinity Groups for Non-Violent Direct Action
- Check list for affinity groups
- Media Checklist for Actions
- Preparing for a Community Blockade
- Beginners guide to a blockade camp
Resources for NVDA Training
Legal Rights
- Community Activism in Victoria: The right to protest and other legal issues
- Legal Handbook for the Victorian Coal and Gas Movement
- What is this thing called Activist Legal Support?
- Your Activist Speech in Court
- Crowdfunding to Cover Fines
Please make sure to check the legal situation in the place you are taking action. Legal information may date and is never a substitute for legal advice.
Safety and Resilience
Case Studies
- Enabling Emergence: The Bentley Blockade and the Struggle for a Gasfield Free Northern Rivers
- Jabiluka: Fight for Country
- James Price Point/Walmadan – A Huge Win
- Environmental Blockading in Australia and Around the World – Timeline 1974-1997
- Lessons from the Greensboro Student Sit-ins
- The creativity fuelling the struggle to defund the police
- How defeating Keystone XL built a bolder, savvier climate movement
- Many more case studies.
Want a break from reading?
- Watch these TED Talks.
- Listen to Treesits, Lock-ons and Barricades: Environmental Blockading in the 1980s
- Listen to Acting Up! 45 Years of Friends of the Earth
- Listen to these ChangeMakers podcasts
- Listen to the Nonviolent Action Lab Podcast
- Listen and watch 40 years of Australian blockading songs
Browse the full Nonviolent Direct Action Topic on the Commons.
Attribution CC BY