Euro Mediterranean University / Ljubljana, Slovenia November 8 - 12, 2010
In coordination with the Euro-Mediterranean University in Slovenia, ICNC is proud to offer the professional seminar, Power and Dynamics of Civil Resistance, November 8-12, 2010 in Ljubljana, Slovenia.,
USIP Headquarters / Washington, DC October 19 - December 9, 2010 Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6pm - 8pm
"Civil Resistance and the Dynamics of Nonviolent Conflict" is a professional level course developed by ICNC and presented under the auspices of the United States Institute of Peace.
Curriculum Support Program (CSP) Academic Teacher Workshop
Istanbul, Turkey July 26 - 27, 2010
ICNC has launched a special curriculum support program to promote development of seminars on civil resistance in non-US based academic institutions, preferably in recently established democracies and developing countries. ICNC is looking for academics interested in studying, researching and teaching civil resistance, its tactical effects and strategic impact on the problems it strives to address, and its long-term influence on rights, institutions, culture and civil society. The academic workshop for the 2010 participants was held in Istanbul, Turkey between July 26-28, 2010.
Council of Europe / Palais de l'Europe, Strasbourg, France June 28 - July 2, 2010
The 5th Summer University for Democracy, a gathering of 600 political leaders, civil society activists, journalists and business leaders met to discuss "crises of leadership." The goal was to answer questions such as:
In order to meet the expectations of their citizens, what are the means and resources available to governments at local, national and international levels?
How can confidence in representatives be restored? How can values such as peace, justice and freedom be disseminated and promoted in non-democratic countries?
Tufts University / Medford, Massachusetts June 20-25, 2010
The fifth annual Fletcher Summer Institute for the Advanced Study of Nonviolent Conflict is an executive education program in the advanced interdisciplinary study of nonviolent conflict for representatives of the media, civil society, international organizations and the policy world.
Emory Conference Center / Atlanta, GA May 19-22, 2010
As part of its education mission, ICNC is organizing a two-day academic training for college and university instructors, faculty members and doctoral students on teaching and studying the subject of civil resistance.
Columbia University / New York, NY April 15-17, 2010
Panel on Friday April 16, 5.10-7.10 PM - Rediscovering Nonviolent History: Civil Resistance Beneath Eulogized Violence in the Struggles for National Independence and Liberation. The chair of the panel will be Matt Meyer, Peace and Justice Studies Association (IPRA)
Maciej Bartkowski will present the paper: Nonviolent Civil Resistance in Poland’s Independence Struggle
Howard Clark (Centre for Peace and Reconciliation Studies, Coventry University, UK) will present the paper: Kosovo’s Liberation Struggle
Walter Conser (U of North Carolina Wilmington, US) will present the paper: Nonviolent Action and the American Struggle for Independence
Ishtiaq Hossain (International Islamic U Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur) will present the paper: Bangladesh’s Struggle for a National Liberation in the Light of its Civil Resistance
Syed Sikander Mehdi (Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology, Karachi, Pakistan) will present the paper: Unarmed Resistance and Pakistan’s Independence
Majid Mohammadi (Stony Brook U, US) will present the paper: Iran’s Civil Resistance Movement in a Historical Perspective
Stephen Zunes (U of San Francisco, US) will be the discussant
GoToWebinar Thursday, April 8th / 12:00pm - 1:00pm EDT
Dr. Erica Chenoweth, Assistant Professor of Government at Wesleyan University will look at the strategic advantage of nonviolent struggle and civil resistance. Armed insurgency may have triumphed in the Algerian war of independence, the Chinese Revolution, and the anti-Soviet war in Afghanistan. These cases, among others, have convinced many observers that violent insurgency is likely to succeed. Moreover, insurgents often claim that they turn to violence as a last resort, having exhausted all other methods of seeking redress for their grievances. Professor Chenoweth challenges both claims, arguing that nonviolent resistance has actually been more effective in the 20th century than violent resistance. She presents a new data set, which provides robust statistical evidence of the strategic superiority of nonviolent resistance, even in cases where the opponent regime is brutal. The research implies that violent resistance is seldom necessary, as many insurgents claim. Rather, civil resistance can be an effective substitute for insurgency in civil wars.
"The Digital Duel: Resistance and Repression in an Online World"
Middlebury College / Middlebury, VT April 6, 2010
Daryn Cambridge gives a presentation titled, "The Digital Duel: Resistance and Repression in an Online World" looking at how emerging digital tools and online communication are impacting the ways in which people around the world struggle nonviolently for human rights, justice, and democratic self-rule. In addition, it will look at how these communication technologies are also being used as tools of repression by the very governments and structures these movements oppose. Looking at the evolution of communication and information sharing as a tool of resistance, Daryn will expand on the emerging battle for rights waged through online, social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube and technologies such as cellphones and digital cameras that advance the utility of these platforms.
WEBINAR - "Nonviolent Strategy, Tactics, and Collective Identity"
Thursday, March 25, 2010 12:00pm - 1:00pm EST
Dr. Lee Smithey, Professor of Sociology at Swarthmore College, will look at how tactical choices and their execution are closely related to the construction of collective identities in social movements. Studying collective identity has helped social movement scholars understand why people participate in collective action, but less attention has been paid to the relationships between tactical choices and collective identity. Strategies and tactics can reflect, reaffirm, or challenge collective identities. Innovative nonviolent methods can create tension as activists work to resolve what they do with who they feel they are. However, much of the power of nonviolent action lies in the ways tactics and methods leverage culture by tapping into identities that demarcate or crosscut movements, opponents, allies, and by-standing publics.
WEBINAR - "Nonviolent Action in the Islamic World"
Thursday, March 11, 2010 12:00pm - 1:00pm EST
Stephen Zunes, Professor of Politics and International Studies at the University of San Francisco, discussed the long history of strategic nonviolent action throughout the Islamic world, in the Middle East and beyond. Based in part on the social contract implied in Islamic teachings which advocate the withdrawal of obedience from unjust authority, nonviolent civil insurrections have played a major role in the struggle for freedom and human rights for more than a century. Prof. Zunes, looked at case studies from Iran, Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon, Mali, Western Sahara, Indonesia, Pakistan, and others.
Presentation by Hardy Merriman: “Understanding Nonviolent Power" Hardy Merriman will discuss nonviolent movements for human rights around the world, with particular focus on how nonviolent movements wield power, organize, develop strategies and tactics, and win against adversaries who are willing to use violent repression.
Presentation by Hardy Merriman: "Nonviolent Power in the Field and in the Classroom" The first half of this presentation will provide a clear definition of what nonviolent action is, explain why nonviolent action works, and address the record that nonviolent movements have achieved in furthering freedom, justice, and rights. The second half of this presentation will discuss how nonviolent action is relevant to, and can be incorporated into, other academic disciplines. It will conclude with a brief review of materials that professors and scholars can draw on for teaching and research purposes.
Les Kurtz, professor of Sociology at George Mason University and author/editor of several books including, "The Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace, and Conflict," explored the "paradox of repression"--efforts by elites to repress civil resistance movements that often end up strengthening those movements instead of weakening them. Examining key historic cases of "repression management" by movement organizers, Kurtz showed how repression can erode a regime's pillars of support, promote questions if not outright defections among power elites, and often become a turning point in leading toward a movement's success.
International Studies Association (ISA) Conference
New Orleans, Louisiana February 17-20, 2010
Dr. Maciej Bartkowski, Dr. Stephen Zunes, Dr. Cynthia Boaz, and Dr. Kurt Schock will speak on a panel about civil resistance at the International Studies Association Conference. On Wednesday, 1:45pm - 3:30pm, Dr. Stephen Zunes and Dr. Maciej Bartkowski will speak on the panel, "The Role of Strategic Nonviolent Action in Civil Resistance." Dr. Lee Smithey will speak on the panel, "Repression Management and the Arts of Nonviolent Strategy." Dr. Cynthia Boaz will speak on the panel, "The Women's Resistance Movement in Iran: Strategic Directions."
WEBINAR - "The Core Dynamics of Civil Resistance"
Thursday, February 4, 2010 12:00pm - 1:00pm
Jack DuVall, President of the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict and co-author of the book "A Force More Powerful: A Century of Nonviolent Conflict," launched ICNC's Academic Webinar Series with a presentation introducing the phenomena of nonviolent conflict and the core dynamics of civil resistance.
"More than Peace Signs and Flowers: The Nonviolence Movement in the 21st Century"
American University / Washington, DC Tuesday, January 26, 2010 5:00pm - 6:30pm
What is nonviolence? How do people get involved and trained? Is it possible to maintain nonviolence in the face of oppression or direct violence? When is nonviolence effective? Can I support nonviolence from outside of the movement? If you have been asking yourself these questions, do not miss this great opportunity. You will hear different experiences, insights and future prospects on nonviolence from professionals working in the field. The organizations represented in this event will be Nonviolence International, the Ruckus Society, and the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict.
Vanessa Ortiz, Senior Director for Civic and Field Learning, and Dr. Cynthia Boaz, ICNC Academic Advisor, facilitated a session on the strategic dimensions of nonviolent struggle during WRI's 2010 conference, "Nonviolent Livelihood Struggles and Global Militarism: Links and Strategies." The conference brought together over 150 activists and organizers from around the world to investigate the links between local nonviolent livelihood struggles and global militarism, including war profiteering.
ICNC along with Pendle Hill and WHYY, Philadelphia's local PBS station will, will co-host a pre-broadcast film screening or "Orange Revolution" - a documentary about the 17 days of protests and mass demonstrations that followed Ukraine's 2004 rigged presidential election. Afterwards panelists Steve York (filmmaker), Adrian Karatnycky, Mary Lord (Scholar in Residence at Pendle Hill), and Daryn Cambridge (ICNC) will talk about the film, the larger phenomenon of civil resistance, and take questions from the audience.
"Orange Revolution" film screening and panel discussion
San Francisco, California / University of San Francisco December 16, 2009
ICNC academic advisors prof. Stephen Zunes (University of San Francisco) and prof. Cynthia Boaz (Sonoma State University) were on a panel with Michael Nagler (Founder of the Metta Center)