Nonviolence Handbook

Handbook for Nonviolent Campaigns in French

HBrock — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 09:17:03 +0000

Manuel Pour Des Campagnes Non-Violentes

25 Jul 2017

WRI's Handbook for Nonviolent Campaigns is now available in French! The translation was completed by friends at the Union Pacifiste de France, collaborating with WRI staff on the design work – to get a copy of the book, please email andrew@wri-irg.org.

The French translation is also available on our new website, Empowering Nonviolence: www.nonviolence.wri-irg.org/fr

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France

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Nonviolence Handbook Resources

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Empowering Nonviolence

HBrock — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 09:26:48 +0000

25 Jul 2017

Empowering Nonviolence is a project of War Resisters' International's Nonviolence Programme, offering campaigning resources and nonviolence training to grassroots activists around the world in several languages. Radical social change doesn't “just happen”; change happens when committed people take action together in ways that are effective and strategic. Empowering Nonviolence makes our resources available online, for free, to help activists build stronger, more powerful campaigns. Visit www.nonviolence.wri-irg.org to find out more.

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Nonviolence Nonviolence Resources

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Nonviolence Handbook

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Help translate the Handbook for Nonviolent Campaigns into Turkish!

HBrock — Wed, 22 Feb 2017 16:40:05 +0000

22 Feb 2017

With the increasing need for solidarity with Turkish civil society, the Bund für Soziale Verteidigung (Foundation for Social Defence) - a WRI affiliate in Germany - are fundraising for 1,400 Euros to print our Handbook for Nonviolent Campaigns in Turkish.

This money would go to the Istanbul Nonviolent Education and Research Centre who will then distribute the handbook for free in their nonviolence workshops and trainings. Please help activists in Turkey to improve their skills in nonviolent action through using this handbook!

Please donate here.

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Nonviolence Resources Turkey: Stop the cycle of violence

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Turkey

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Nonviolence Handbook Civil disobedience/NVDA

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Call for submissions: New Worlds in Old Shells

HBrock — Wed, 04 Jan 2017 14:11:12 +0000

04 Jan 2017

Permaculture farmers in El Salvador

When we think of social change, we often think of protests, campaigns, and direct action. These are all vital ways to say “no!” to destructive practices and institutions.

However, it's equally important that we are building concrete alternatives, where we say “yes!” to the vision of the world we want. Built on the same power analysis as our nonviolent direct action, “constructive programmes” demonstrate the radical alternatives – to militarism and the causes of climate change, for example – that our world desperately needs, and puts them into practise in the here and now.

For Gandhi, a nonviolent revolution without a constructive programme was impossible; direct action and social change efforts had to be embedded in empowered and vibrant communities that were bringing their own radical and egalitarian visions of life. Along with protest and direct action, Gandhi called for communities in India to start building the world they wanted to see, to build a new world in the shell of the old. This approach to social change is – of course – not limited to the Indian independence movement, there are many examples of such work taking place all over the world.

War Resisters' International (www.wri-irg.org) is a global network of pacifists and antimilitarist organisations working for a world without war. In the past, we have created resources for nonviolent activists to use in organizing actions and campaigns. Our Handbook for Nonviolent Campaigns is now published in over ten languages (www.nonviolence.wri-irg.org). We are now beginning to develop a new book, called "New Worlds in Old Shells". New Worlds in Old Shells will explore constructive programme – both modern and historical - based on the stories and experiences of communities involved in such social change. The work is being led by an international editorial committee from across the WRI network.

In preparing this resource, WRI's Nonviolence Programme is discovering that communities around the world have been developing similar approaches: women's textile projects in Turkey that focus on empowerment, community land trusts in the USA, the Via Campesina movement, and the radical housing coop movement in the UK are just a handful of examples – there are many more.

We are rooting our analysis in six key values:

Equality: recognition that each person has value, a commitment to equal rights, and ensuring equitable access to opportunities and resources.
Emancipation: commitment to freeing ourselves and our communities from all forms of domination.
Community: commitment to building a sense of belonging and interconnection between people, both locally and globally, and always with respect for our differences.
Sustainability/ecology: commitment to nurture our environment for the long-term welfare of all.
Nonviolence: commitment to overcome all forms of violence and oppression.
Economic Justice: commitment to building economies that allow individuals and communities to flourish, without harming one community to benefit another.

We are keen to hear from others involved in similar work, to share ideas and analysis. We hope to build a broad base of knowledge and skills that is useful to other activists around the world.

For more information on this project, please email Andrew Metheven at andrew@wri-irg.org. For more information on War Resisters’ International, see www.wri-irg.org, and for our nonviolence resources, see www.nonviolence.wri-irg.org.

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Front Page From the office Nonviolence Resources

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Resources Nonviolence Training Nonviolence Handbook Civil disobedience/NVDA

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January nonviolence series in Sevilla

HBrock — Tue, 26 Jan 2016 13:32:57 +0000

26 Jan 2016

A series of events on nonviolence is running throughout January in Sevilla, state of Spain. The event this evening will launch the 'Manual para Campañas Noviolentas' – the Spanish edition of the Handbook for Nonviolent Campaigns. On Saturday, attend the Workshop Design of Nonviolent Campaigns, led by former WRI staff member Andreas Speck. Register here.

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Spanish edition of the Handbook for Nonviolent Campaigns released

HBrock — Fri, 27 Nov 2015 12:45:43 +0000

27 Nov 2015

The second edition of the Handbook for Nonviolent for Campaigns was first released in English in 2014, at WRI's International Conference in Cape Town. The book has now been translated into Spanish via the support of a crowdfunding campaign, and is available from the WRI webshop here: http://www.wri-irg.org/node/24916

The Handbook is a collection of stories, strategies, tactics, and training exercises to support groups wanting to take nonviolent action for social change. It was written by over thirty members of the WRI network, from a wide range of different countries and contexts.

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Nonviolence Nonviolence Resources

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Nonviolence Training Nonviolence Handbook Civil disobedience/NVDA

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International day of Nonviolence special offer: Handbook for Nonviolent Campaigns

HBrock — Fri, 02 Oct 2015 12:15:13 +0000

02 Oct 2015

Two books for the price of one! 2nd October is 'International day of Nonviolence', so until the 9th October, if you buy a copy of the 2nd edition of the Handbook for Nonviolent Campaigns, we'll include a copy of the first edition to pass on to a friend! Both editions are available in English and Spanish.

In 2009, War Resisters' International released the 'Handbook for Nonviolent Campaigns'; a toolbox of ideas and resources to support activists to run more effective campaigns. The full first edition is available online here: www.wri-irg.org/pubs/NonviolenceHandbook. The original was translated into over ten languages, including Spanish, German, Tigrinya (spoken in Eritrea), Nepalese, Turkish, and Arabic, and has been used by activists all over the world.

Click here for the English, and here for the Spanish.

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Nonviolence Resources Nonviolence

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Training Exercises Resources Nonviolence Handbook

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Books

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Crowdfunding: Actualización del Manual para Campañas Noviolentas

javier — Thu, 08 Jan 2015 15:08:02 +0000

07 Jan 2015

WRI is fundraising for the translation into Spanish of the new edition of the Handbook for Nonviolent Campaigns.

Crowdfunding link https://goteo.org/project/campanas-noviolentas/?lang=en.

In 2009, War Resisters' International released the 'Handbook for Nonviolent Campaigns'; a toolbox of ideas and resources to support activists to run more effective campaigns. The full first edition is available online here: www.wri-irg.org/pubs/NonviolenceHandbook. The original was translated into over ten languages, including Spanish, German, Tigrinya (spoken in Eritrea), Nepalese, Turkish, and Arabic, and has been used by activists all over the world - for example, the Spanish version of the handbook was used widely by the 15-M movement in Spain.

We want to release a new edition of our handbook, to contribute an updated resource to movements struggling for peace and justice internationally. The new edition has more articles about strategic campaigning, a wider variety of updated case studies, and more exercises to help people running nonviolence trainings. There is new material looking at building movements, nonviolent conflict and power, incorporating gender awareness into campaigns, activism in oppressive regimes, and understanding violence. The new edition has a more 'international' flavour too, with contributions from a wider spread of countries, especially from the majority world - there are new contributors from Nepal, Afghanistan, Kenya and South Africa.

We need to raise 2000€ to translate and proof read its content. By supporting our work, you will be supporting activists in using nonviolent methods for social change all over the world.

[video:https://vimeo.com/112182331 width:400 height:300 autoplay:0]

Main features

The new edition of the manual is split into five sections:
- introduction to nonviolence
- developing strategic campaigns
- organising effective actions
- case studies
- training and exercises

There is also a glossary, a DIY section and an extensive list of other resources.

We will translate into Spanish to be published in 2015. It will take us a couple of months to translate its content and 15 days for proof reading it.

Why this is important

This crowdfunding is for everyone who wants to support social change by nonviolent means.

Goals of the crowdfunding campaign

We need to raise 2000€ to translate the Handbook into Spanish, and also to pay for its proof reading. We will also make the handbook available on our website, for easy access for everyone interested in tools for organising for social change.

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Front Page Nonviolence Resources

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Nonviolence Handbook

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Community: culture of peace

javier — Tue, 23 Dec 2014 10:53:54 +0000

23 Dec 2014

Dieter Lünse

The biggest base for nonviolent action lies in our social community. The community is formed in villages or districts. The relationships between the people are built up of a personal level, a group level and structures that are made of a state level or other conditions like cultural agreements or habits.

There is a fourth position of big importance in the cooperation of the social community: the general public. It is produced by all people involved by the media and other possibilities of communication.

Conflicts and interruptions of the community take place on all levels. They can veer towards the dominance of violence or the non-violent ways of solving a conflict.

Non-violent action, civil disobedience and resistance against violent conditions are often in the focus of non-violent ginger groups when life gets destroyed by the power and egotism of a few. There is not enough thought put into the dimension of how much the violence is reflected by the community or even being borned by it. Being borned by deliberately, in joint knowledge or without knowledge and experience on how counter-actions could be organized. Out collective narratives are still playing the game with us of only accepting violence as a structural feature. The development is headed in a different direction.1

A local culture of peace by the community mediation is also among those. In doing so, the whole system in the public space is built upon constructive conflict solving, starting at the roots. This has worked in a neighbourhood mediation.2 In Europe, the first projects where set up after some very inspiring news about different developments in the USA.3 Saul D. Alinsky has also given some important impulses for peace in social communities. The communities could learn helping themselves by a local democracy.4

There are currently mediators on the streets of Hamburg that simply approach the people. These three examples all create a basic culture for peace by their local abilities.

Where the Conflict Mediation is on the street

The resident population in big cities in its structure is partly changing rapidly since many years. After the turnaround between Eastern bloc and the Western bloc states worldwide refugee movements increased. For many countries there are new questions of togetherness as well as challenges for Conflict Mediation grow tremendously.

Example Hamburg in Germany: here, in some cases the resident population in certain districts changed about 20% in a short amount of time due to the influx of German Russian influx. As well as parts of population et al. From Italy, Turkey, Afghanistan, Ghana shape the structure of the country. Impoverishment and the big gap between rich and poor are coming additionally. For schools, social work and police the processing of conflicts and violence increase. Parental homes cant handle the problems on their own or are even causer of the problem. Challenges for the Conflict Mediation grow due to these relatively fast changing conditions not only in its number of cases but rather in the scope of a very typical problem. Most people wait to long if a conflict is looming. The conversation with the girlfriend, a sarcastic comment among colleagues are mostly just valves to avoid and to defer. When it comes to violent or psychological burdens that are so high that nothing else works Police or a lawyer are called or it escalates till third parties intervene. Not least many conflicts keep an independent life even hough there is urgent need for change. Another situation in a community can be, that violence has the upper hand and the situation is all the more tense, so fear reigns in the social community.

The Institute for Conflict management and Mediation in Hamburg (ikm) started an office for neighborhood conflict mediation and found so one answer against increasing conflicts. But during the build up it appeared that an office alone would not be enough. The whole district needed to be involved in the constructive conflict management.

Roots for Conflict Mediation

So it is important, that the concentration of different people and projects gives the chance for fundamental improvement of the dealing with conflicts. One area in Hamburg is a good example for a common beginning developing to a integral concept which includes and empowers youth, children, parents, professionals, and citizen into a conflict mediation system. It emerges a new quality of Conflict mediation and violence prevention.

The area wide (extensive) work and the sustainable quality of these methods is however new. After the program was stared in 2000 by now there has been 40 districts developing their own local methods against violence. This shows that through participation and involvement of many social environments in a big area with the the same basic concept it emerges a new quality of mediation and violence prevention.

One area closely examined

The development in Harburg Süd can be transferred on all areas. There, a interdisciplinary preparation group for the process of violence and conflicts between children and youth formed 8 years ago. The group planned the networking. The first measures yet seemed ambitious. Previously monthly two hour long meetings for two way exchange were known. For the kick off now weekly four hour long meetings should take place for one month. Initially it seemed like the different groups would not sustain this. But it turned our differently. Week to week it showed that the concentration of representatives of the schools, organizations, the social work sector, the police, parents, the political parties and superior facilities increased. The first tasks for a professional discussion was fulfilled: Networking and Exchange. This changes the given anonymity principally. Anyone enjoys staying in its “own box” and participants don't really come together. Or the experience with violence is so high that many close their mind out of fear. The experience in Harburg Süd shows that the merging of different professional groups and sectors (scopes) leads to assuming responsibility. New forms of of teamwork are necessary to build up other perspectives. Power for own local projects grows with mutual recognition.

Harburg Süd found its working forms with the first events and is meeting three times a year since then. A core group prepares meetings and evaluates them afterwards, sustains the communication and frequently provides a mirror for the commonly decided projects through evaluation. Thus the work is being improved continuously.

Violence prevention weeks in the entire district

Firstly the forum Harburg Süd decided on implementing a matter for all youth from the age of 14 to 15. One week for violence prevention for all students. Since 8 years now 6 schools dispute with recent happenings as well as educational structures in this project. The principles of the schools are put across, places in the social enviroment of the students become known. Methods for constructive social intercourse are developed. Through certain codes of conduct and rules as well as participation of the students violence in schools and in the whole district can, step by step, be reduced. And new forms of cooperation can develop because of very different schools working together. Unusual methods make the project known. Thus a start of a project week was organized in the cinema in the City. Thereby a clear signal was sent that violence is beeing seen and will be reduced. Two of these six schools introduced a project of student mediation in their schools. This is beeing enhanced through changed circumstances because the mediators helped shaping parts of the project week, presented their work and became known. What was isolated and scattered before becomes public property.

The sport and culture fest “The south is living”

As a second big method violence prevention was brought from the schools into the public space. Because of the difficulty of bringing non-violence into all parks, to all bus stops and last paths Harburg Süd invented the slogan “The south is living” for themselves. Often there are only few mutual activities for a new non-violent social networking happening in these outlying districts. But it is shown that youth and children especially in these areas need their room, their safety and constructive offers. A sport and culture celebration carries this purpose out in a local park for 7 years now. With slogans like “The south is living – Fit for fairness” advertisement is being done over a long time period. With this advertisement, the implementation and documentation it is conveyed where Harburg Süd sees the problems and where it is strengthening through constructive behaving.

Meanwhile the poster competition is implemented as a third method. Thereby students and secondary schools participate equally. And everybody can see that youth themselves bring forward non-violence when they see the posters hanging out at schools, businesses and other public spaces.

Recent Cases and stabilization of social peace

In 2010 Harburg Süd experienced to cases of murder. While other urban areas don't even address such cases, over there it was immediately clear that civil-courage needs to be established in the public sphere. This is a distinct sign that the coalition and the qualified work over 8 years enables alertness, responsibility acceptance and agency. Like in a single mediation with two persons is here the neutral third person an instance that always again works on the steady changing circumstances for social peace. The anonymity is changed in favour of more communication and transparency, and the parties are not left alone at home with their feelings because a place for understanding and debate was created.

The conflict mediation is not only lying on the street anymore. It was here like in many other districts of hamburg brought up on a mutual stage so that big groups learn the basics of dealing with conflicts. The change of the society's structure can be be overcome. In many individual cases mediation is used.

Districts and areas in other regions

Examples like Harburg Süd can be found all over the world. Because peace does not count so much they stay less known than areas with a high violence rate. Newton and Hilbrow in Johannesburg have experienced both: lot of violence and a return of non-violent conflicts. The infrastructure was improved through a program for urban upgrading. Residents started taking up responsibility for their community again because they improved social closeness and communication like in the example of Harburg Süd. The engine were artists that had the braveness to bring out the community out of the anonymity. Through projects like a public cinema on a wall of a building because there was no other room broke through a typical dilemma of many people. “One can't do anything, everything is rundown and I better take care by myself – even if more crime is created”, is what many say then. In theses situation it sometimes takes more braveness to come back together and unite then just to give in to the power and violence structures. If single persons start, groups join and then a whole area (whether rural or in urban areas) experiences how non-violence establishes in the public sphere, then are all 4 levels of coexistence reached. The basic needs can be restored commonly and without external help. The power gets that big because its a model for others and people in the similar regions start to imitate. And from this point you can start projects like neighborhood mediation, community organizing as Saul D. Alinsky or street mediators.

1 see Dr. Erica Chenoweth und Maria J. Stephan, Why civil resistance works?, New York Colombia University Press 2011

2 Ullmann, Sonja, Stortz, Christine: Mediation bei Nachbarschaftskonflikten als Dienstleistung einer Wohnungsbaugesellschaft, Mannheim 2001

and see Nachbarschaftsservice Graz, http://www.friedensbuero-graz.at/cms/service-angebote/nabas/

3 Metzger, Tilman: Gemeinwesenmediation. Von der Analyse der Justizkrise zur modernen Mediation, in Perspektive Mediation 1/2004, page 37ff

4 Leo Penta (Hrsg.): Community Organizing. Menschen verändern ihre Stadt. Edition Körber-Stiftung, Hamburg 2007

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Nonviolence Handbook

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Handbook for Nonviolent Campaigns in more languages

HBrock — Thu, 18 Dec 2014 16:01:54 +0000

18 Dec 2014

The first edition of WRI's Handbook for Nonviolent Campaigns (published in 2009) continues to be translated into more languages. Indonesian was the first translation, coming soon after the English version was published. Since that first translation, the book has been translated into 11 languages. The Slovak version was the latest to be completed - just last month. This month we have also made the handbook available online in Ukrainian. Work is under way to translate the second edition of the Handbook. Please get in touch with us if you would like to translate it.

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Nonviolence Handbook

Nonviolence Handbook

Handbook for Nonviolent Campaigns in French

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Empowering Nonviolence

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Help translate the Handbook for Nonviolent Campaigns into Turkish!

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Call for submissions: New Worlds in Old Shells

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January nonviolence series in Sevilla

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Spanish edition of the Handbook for Nonviolent Campaigns released

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International day of Nonviolence special offer: Handbook for Nonviolent Campaigns

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Crowdfunding: Actualización del Manual para Campañas Noviolentas

Main features

Why this is important

Goals of the crowdfunding campaign

Team and experience

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Community: culture of peace

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Handbook for Nonviolent Campaigns in more languages

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