Topic

Nonviolent Direct Action

Strategic nonviolence is a rich tradition within social change movements, generating theoretical exploration, research, different group formations and tactical innovation. In this topic you’ll find case studies, manuals, inspiring quotes, training materials, and practical how-to-guides.

an old black and white photo of a procession of people walking along a street outside a hotel with text on their roof that reads Royal Hotel

Beer Strikes: A History of Hotel Boycotts in Australia, 1900-1920

Watch this video presentation about beer strikes and the history of hotel / pub boycotts in Australia in the early 1900s.

black and white photo of two police dragging one person along the ground and accompanying another woman off a sports oval

Australian Actions at the Point of Assumption

Points of Assumption – A list of Australian examples of tactics and actions that have reframed debates and beliefs and made social change.

a group of people protesting on the street wearing face masks and holding their fists in the air. There is a banner in the back reading Black Lives Matter. The person at the front wearing an Australian Aboriginal flag is holding their phone.

Australian Actions at Different Points of Intervention

Australian examples of actions that intensify impact in terms of ensuring visibility, challenging opponents, and disrupting narratives.

workers sitting on steps outside Opera House

The 1972 Sydney Opera House Work-In

Learn about the Sydney Opera House ‘work-in’ carried out by construction workers who expelled management & continued work under workers’ control.

Social movements and the (mis)use of research: Extinction Rebellion and the 3.5% rule

Extinction Rebellion member Kyle R Matthews explores how scholarship regarding civil resistance campaigns seeking regime change has been used by environmental activists.

Four women dressed up in hats, pearls with a 'prim' look.

Humorous Political Stunts: Nonviolent Public Challenges to Power

An exploration of how creative activists combine humour with seriousness via stunts to create change, including case study – John Howard Ladies’ Auxiliary Fan Club.

Civil Resistance against Climate Change: What, when, who and how effective?

New research considers what Australian climate activism – specifically climate change civil resistance – looks like, how it is changing, and what it is achieving.

Tasmanian Wilderness Society blocks dam construction (Franklin River Campaign) 1981-83

Tasmanian Wilderness Society activists blockaded the Tasmanian Franklin below Gordon Dam site, proposed by the Hydro Electric Commission.

anti nuclear protestors on USS Worden ship with protest banners saying No Nuclear Weapons

Australians campaign against nuclear power and uranium mining, 1974-1988

Street marches and trade union action typified Australian resistance to the building of nuclear reactors and uranium mining and export.

Dilemma Actions: the power of putting your opponent in a bind

A study of 44 dilemma actions over the last 90 years examines the many benefits of creative protests for social movements.

protestors with a banner that says Thanks but no tanks

Thanks But No Tanks: Learnings from Disrupt Land Forces [Brisbane: 2021]

Actions and learnings from Australia’s Disrupt Land Forces Campaign at the Brisbane’s 2021 Land Forces weapons expo.

Greenpeace and Sea Shepherds force Japanese seafood company Nissui to sell stakes in whale hunting ships 2005-2006

Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd initiated a consumer boycott against Sealord Tuna to end whaling by its parent company, Nissui.

Black and white photograph of a sign that reads: 'GURINDJI Mining Lease and Cattle Station'.

Indigenous Gurindji win Land Rights in Australia (Wave Hill Walk Off) 1966-1975

The Gurindji of Wave Hill Station (Northern Territory) protested by a walkout against low wages, leading to the land rights movement.

The flag of the Torres Strait Islands. It features a white Dhari (traditional headdress), with a five-pointed white star beneath it. The background is dark blue, with green stripes at the top and bottom of the flag.

Torres Strait soldiers stage stay at home strikes, 1943

Torres Strait Islander soldiers strike to end discrimination in the army during World War Two.

Torres Strait Islanders hold maritime strike against pearling industry, 1936

Torres Strait Islanders refused work in the Native Affairs pearling fleet due to racial discrimination and held a maritime strike in 1936.

Black and white photograph of a large crowd of protestors. Banners include 'Vietnam Moratorium Campaign' and 'Stop the Country to Stop the War'.

Vietnam Moratorium Campaign: Australian citizens force end to participation in Vietnam War

Australian civil society groups resisted military participation in the war in Vietnam through organised and nonviolent action, from the late 1960s to the early 1970s.

Photograph of the S11 protest in melbourne. Signs with black oil drums saying toxic waste

S11: Australians Blockade World Economic Forum

The S11 Alliance protested againsts the World Economic Forum in Melbourne in September 2000. Their blockades were met by police violence.

A group of people walking down the street holding banners and protesting. One big banner says Stepping Out for Peace, People for Nuclear Disarmament. Two protestors at the front are dressed in clown costumes.

Stepping Out For Peace: A History of CANE and PND (WA)

Introduction Stepping Out For Peace is an oral history of activism carried out by Western Australian groups People for Nuclear Disarmament (WA) and its forerunner the Campaign Against Nuclear Energy. It includes a detailed and heavily illustrated account of campaigns from the 1970s onwards against uranium mining, nuclear reactors, nuclear weapons, and militarism. In doing […]

Protesters against the Dakota Access Pipeline and Keystone XL Pipeline hold a sit-in in the street next to the San Francisco Federal Building. The sign at the front says 'People over pipelines'.

How defeating Keystone XL built a bolder, savvier climate movement

From frontline battles to large national mobilizations, tar sands resistance developed new tactics & organizing strategies for the larger climate struggles ahead.

7 protesters on a road block a police vehicle during the 1982 Nightcap forest blockade in NSW, Australia.

Om gaia dudes: The North East Forest Alliance’s old-growth forest campaign

This book chapter by Aidan Ricketts is about the key moments and positive sides of the old forest growth campaign in northern NSW in the 1990s.