Nonviolent Direct Action (NVDA): Start Here
Suggestions from the Commons Librarians about resources to explore in the Nonviolent Direct Action topic area, including NVDA theory, practical guides and case studies.
Tag
Civil disobedience
How defeating Keystone XL built a bolder, savvier climate movement
From frontline battles to large national mobilizations, tar sands resistance developed new tactics and organizing strategies for the larger climate struggles ahead. This article was originally published on Waging Nonviolence. Keystone XL pipeline permit rescinded When President Biden rescinded a crucial permit for the Keystone XL pipeline last week (20 January 2021), it marked the culmination […]
Films about Women & Social Change
An inspiring list of feature films and documentaries about women and social change including Women of Steel, Suffragette, Mission Blue, She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry and more.
Make Change: How-To’s for Effective Peaceful Protest
Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement this article includes tips and links to make what you need for safe, peaceful, and effective protest. Includes signs, effigies, banners, street art, ways to manage pepper spray and tear gas, surveillance considerations and interactions with police liaison.
Your Activist Speech in Court
A guide to insisting on a lower sentence from an experienced nonviolent activist. Includes tips about the different aspects to cover in court speeches.
Resistance Guide
A powerful social movement has risen to oppose Trump and to build a better America. Now there is a guide to give you the essential tools and strategies to grow and maintain a resistance powerful enough to win.
Momentum Webinars on movements, mass decentralised organising and mobilisation
The Momentum Community has shared webinars on movements, mass decentralised organising, mobilisation, non-violent movements and case studies including the Sunrise movement and Hong Kong democracy movement.
Crowdfunding for civil disobedience
Crowdfunding to cover the cost of fines for civil disobedience shares the cost among many supporters and reduces financial pressure on organisations or small grassroots groups. Here’s some tips from CounterAct on effective fundraising in this context.
An in depth look at the Hong Kong democracy movement
A collection of articles and podcasts from Amanda Tattersall and ChangeMakers which provide a behind the scenes exploration of the Hong Kong democracy movement.
Check list for affinity groups
Checklist for affinity groups – looking out for each other and yourself when participating in a blockade or protest.
Brave New Words Access to medicines – United States
Brave New Words takes listeners on a journey around the globe with renowned communications researcher and campaign advisor Anat Shenker-Osorio. This episode of the podcast looks at how the battle over drug prices is heating up to confront corporate greed and pay-to-play politics.
What is this thing called Activist Legal Support?
Planning good activist legal support builds movement resilience and should be part of campaign planning. A good legal support structure for groups engaging in protests that could be arrestable includes having legal support team, legal info, arrest & court support.
Community Activism in Victoria: The right to protest and other legal issues
Know what your legal rights are when participating in a protest/community campaign in Victoria. Source: The Law Handbook from the Fitzroy Legal Service.
Effective action for social change: The campaign to save the Franklin River
Learn lessons from one of the largest & most successful nonviolent direct action environmental protests in Australian history – the Franklin River campaign.
Media Checklist for Actions
A thorough checklist to help you prepare for traditional and social media in the lead up to an action, including some considerations for non-violent direct actions. Download as a handy printable pdf from the box at the bottom of this page.
198 Methods of Nonviolent Action
Stuck in a rut when it comes to campaign tactics? Explore Gene Sharp’s 198 methods of nonviolent action which are classified into three categories: nonviolent protest and persuasion, noncooperation (social, economic, and political), and nonviolent intervention.
BUGA-UP
Formed in 1979, Billboard Utilising Graffitists Against Unhealthy Promotions (BUGA-UP) made its mark on hoardings around the nation. By revising advertising slogans and disrupting tobacco-sponsored events, the group revealed the true cost of tobacco and alcohol company deception.
A Resource for Activists Working Through Trauma
We need to talk about how we both prepare ourselves for, and support each other through our responses to stress and trauma, whether it be from police brutality, another institutional force, or from conflict within our own communities.
Always look on the bright side of life: The AIDEX ’91 story
In 1991 over 1000 protesters blockaded the National Exhibition Centre in Canberra with the goal of shutting down the Australia International Defence Exhibition. This book includes a detailed account of the blockade, the context of the growth of the Australian arms industry, and the words of the protesters themselves.
Green Bans
In the 1970s Sydney builders labourers refused to work on projects that were environmentally or socially undesirable. This green bans movement, as it became known, was the first of its type in the world.