Understanding Nonviolent Power: Civil Resistance as a Force for Rights, Freedom, and Justice in the 21st Century

Monday, December 3, 2012
Lecture: Understanding Nonviolent Power: Civil Resistance as a Force for Rights, Freedom, and Justice in the 21st Century — Nonviolent civil resistance movements around the world are a growing force in shaping geopolitics. From the Arab Spring, to movements over the last two decades in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Latin America and North America, the world has witnessed how ordinary people have used nonviolent tactics -- such as strikes, boycotts, mass demonstrations… Show more and other actions -- to achieve rights, freedom and justice. Yet, this critical phenomenon is often overlooked or misunderstood by external observers. It defies conventional wisdom that unarmed people mobilizing by the thousands or millions can defeat armed, wealthy and organized adversaries who seem to have all the advantages. This presentation will focus on why civil resistance works, what its long-term record and outcomes are, and how it will increasingly affect social, economic and political change. Hardy Merriman is a senior advisor to the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict. For the last decade, he has worked with scholars and practitioners from around the world to research and educate people about the power of nonviolent civil resistance. He has edited works such as "Waging Nonviolent Struggle" by Gene Sharp and co-authored "A Guide to Effective Nonviolent Struggle," a training curriculum for activists.
7 p.m., Gaylord Hall, main floor of Worner Campus Center, 902 N. Cascade Ave., free

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