Civil Resistance and Power Politics: The Experience of Non-violent Action from Gandhi to the PresentAdam Roberts, Timothy Garton Ash This widely-praised book identified peaceful struggle as a key phenomenon in international politics a year before the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt confirmed its central argument. Civil resistance - non-violent action against such challenges as dictatorial rule, racial discrimination and foreign military occupation - is a significant but inadequately understood feature of world politics. Especially through the peaceful revolutions of 1989, and the developments in the Arab world since December 2010, it has helped to shape the world we live in. Civil Resistance and Power Politics covers most of the leading cases, including the actions master-minded by Gandhi, the US civil rights struggle in the 1960s, the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979, the 'people power' revolt in the Philippines in the 1980s, the campaigns against apartheid in South Africa, the various movements contributing to the collapse of the Soviet Bloc in 1989-91, and, in this century, the 'colour revolutions' in Georgia and Ukraine. The chapters, written by leading experts, are richly descriptive and analytically rigorous. This book addresses the complex interrelationship between civil resistance and other dimensions of power. It explores the question of whether civil resistance should be seen as potentially replacing violence completely, or as a phenomenon that operates in conjunction with, and modification of, power politics. It looks at cases where campaigns were repressed, including China in 1989 and Burma in 2007. It notes that in several instances, including Northern Ireland, Kosovo and, Georgia, civil resistance movements were followed by the outbreak of armed conflict. It also includes a chapter with new material from Russian archives showing how the Soviet leadership responded to civil resistance, and a comprehensive bibliographical essay. Illustrated throughout with a remarkable selection of photographs, this uniquely wide-ranging and path-breaking study is written in an accessible style and is intended for the general reader as well as for students of Modern History, Politics, Sociology, and International Relations. |
Contents
1 Introduction | 1 |
The Literature on Civil Resistance in Historical Context | 25 |
Key Issues | 43 |
Power from Below and Above 194570 | 58 |
5 The Interplay of Nonviolent and Violent Action in Northern Ireland 196772 | 75 |
Soviet Leaders and the Challenge of Civil Resistance in EastCentral Europe 196891 | 91 |
From Soviet Invasion to Velvet Revolution 196889 | 110 |
Poland 197089 | 127 |
13 The Interplay of Nonviolent and Violent Action in the Movement against Apartheid in South Africa 198394 | 213 |
14 The Intersection of Ethnic Nationalism and People Power Tactics in the Baltic States 198791 | 231 |
Echoes of Gandhi | 247 |
Lessons from the Collapse of the German Democratic Republic in 1989 | 260 |
Civil Resistance in Kosovo 199098 | 277 |
Serbia 19912000 | 295 |
Enforcing Peaceful Change | 317 |
The Paradoxes of Negotiation | 335 |
Other editions - View all
Civil Resistance and Power Politics: The Experience of Non-violent Action ... Sir Adam Roberts,Timothy Garton Ash No preview available - 2009 |
Civil Resistance and Power Politics:The Experience of Non-violent Action ... Sir Adam Roberts,Timothy Garton Ash No preview available - 2009 |
Common terms and phrases
achieve action active activists African armed army August authorities Baltic became British called campaign central civil resistance civil rights communist coup critical crowd defence democracy democratic demonstrations early East East German economic effect elections emerged Europe European example Figure force foreign Gandhi Georgia German groups helped human important independence India influence initial institutions involved issues Kosovo later leaders leadership leading liberal London major March mass military mobilization monks moral movement nationalist negotiations non-violent November officials opposition organized participation particular party peaceful Poland political popular President protest question reform regime remained repression Republic response result Revolution role rule Serbia significant social society Solidarity South Soviet Union strategy streets strike struggle Studies success turn United University Press violence Western workers York