S. — 01. The means and steps of a nonviolent action campaign

The means and steps
of a nonviolent
action campaign
Étienne Godinot
Translation : Claudia McKenny Engström
10.02.2015

These slides follow the structure and incorporate large
extracts of a text by Jean-Marie Muller « Les différents
moments d’une campagne d’action non-violente »
(Dossier n°3 of Non-violence politique, 1985, and Alternatives
non-violentes, n°132, third trimester 2004).
The slides add personal observations of the author and
illustrates Jean-Marie Muller’s text with historical examples.
Photo : Jean-Marie Muller
Bibliographie :
- Jean-Marie Muller, Stratégie de l’action non-violente, Seuil, 1981
- Jean-Marie Muller, Dictionnaire de la non-violence, Le Relié Poche, 2005
- Jean-Marie Muller, L’impératif de désobéissance - Fondements philosophiques
et stratégiques de la désobéissance civile, Le passager clandestin, 2011
- Gene Sharp, The politics of nonviolent action - 1 : Power and struggle ; 2 : The
methods of nonviolent action ; 3 : The dynamics of nonviolent action., Boston,
Extending horizons books, 1980, 902 p.

The means and steps of a nonviolent action campaign
Contents
1 - Analysis of the situation
2 - Choosing an objective
3 - Choosing an organisation
4 - First negotiations
5 - Reach out to public opinion
6 - Give an ultimatum
7 - Direct actions
8 - A constructive programme
9 - Playing with repression
10 - Final negotiations
11 - Exercising power at the basis
12 - Exercising political power

Introduction
End and means
Nonviolence is an ethics of respect. It is both a respectful way of life
between Man and nature, and a way of doing politics that respects
the opponent. It is a way of doing and a way of being; an ethical
requirement and a technique for action.
In terms of action, nonviolence is a good means for a good end.
This needs to be underlined, because a nonviolent technique could
be used to a bad end.
Ex.: - Boycott of Jewish shops by Nazis in 1933
- Truck-drivers’ strike in Chili in 1972 which contributed to the
fall of the democratic regime led by Salvador Allende
- Moroccan “Green March” in 1975 to take over the Spanish
Sahara…
Photos : Mohandas K. Gandhi and Martin Luther King

Introduction
Instinct and intelligence
It would be vain to try and predict the future, but it is precious,
in order to act better in the present, to analyse the past.
When the time comes, it will be necessary to adapt according
to largely unpredictable circumstances, combining instinct and
intelligence for the action to be pertinent and adapted to the
situation.
Although it is an important element, intelligence is not enough.
It clarifies our conception of the action, brings precisions and
reduces the marge of error.

1 – Analysis of the situation
The dynamic of an action is rooted in the awareness of an
injustice, not necessarily a new one, but which becomes
unbearable in this moment.
One shouldn’t exaggerate the facts and their seriousness,
and even less so, caricature the position of our opponent.
Thorough knowledge of facts, their most rational and
objective presentation, is a considerable advantage :
- Being able to justify, with proof, the affirmations stated,
build up a complete case;

Analysis of situation
- Understanding facts in their historical, psychological,
sociological, economic, political context : why and how did the
injustice appear ? And then maintain itself ?
- Who are the actors, what are the social, economic, political
(representatives, candidates, population, media, etc.) forces
implicated in the situation, their attitudes, behaviour, theoretical
justifications ?
- Which structures of power characterise this situation ? Where is
the decision centre ?
- What is written in the law, what rights and legal procedures can
we use or not use ?
- Who are our allies and enemies in this conflict ?

2 - Choosing an objective
It is a strategic necessity that the objective be clear, precise,
limited and possible.
It is important not to choose and objective whose importance is
disproportionate compared to the powers I can reasonably
pretend to mobilise in order to lead an action.
It is important to situate : put in a perspective that in holds the
political system as a whole, but tackling the problem from a
precise point, thus being able to fully hold on to it and later be
able to move and make it tip over, acting as a lever.
Ex.: In 1930, Gandhi chose to fight against the laws on salt
which were very hard on the Indian population.

3 - Choosing an organisation
Nonviolent action bets on personal responsibility. But to
become efficient, it must be collective and organised. The
organisation itself must be nonviolent : all must be allowed to
participate in decision-making, be made responsible, tasks
must be shared, activities coordinated.
The organisation must endow itself with an organ of decision,
in order to react fast if necessary.
In all collective actions, one or several leaders emerge.
These must not end up taking a prominent, immoderate
position. It is important to avoid that the unity, power and
cohesion of the movement rest solely upon the shoulders of
the leader, and hence, strengthen democracy within the
organisation.
Photos : - Vote by a show of hands;
- Cesar Chavez, leader of the United Farm Workers (USA, 1970’),
organising a boycott of grapes.

Choosing an organisation
An action is generally carried by an already existing
organisation (political party, trade union, movement,
NGO) or by a collective of organisations. Sometimes,
a specific organisation needs to be created.
One of the tasks the organisation takes on is to train
(in theory and practice) its activists in nonviolent
action.
The movement will be strong if it benefits from the
support of local relays (inside or outside de country)
who will transmit the information and guidelines for
action to the population.
Photo below : role play, simulating an assault and reaction to it.

4 - First negotiations
It is important to start negotiations as soon as possible
and directly with the opponent, before taking the
disagreement public, in order to suggest a negotiated
solution rather than a show of strength.
If the opponents accepts to meet with us, it is rare an
agreement can be concluded immediately, but these first
negotiations allow to test our interlocutor’s intentions.
It is important to avoid all attitudes that would put the
conflict under extra tension or reinforce the blockages.
However, it is important to be firm and determined.

First negotiations
Making decisions is a requirement, promises are
not good enough.
When negotiations find themselves in a dead end,
they must suspended, but not definitely stopped,
since the goal of direct action is to reopen
negotiations.
It might be useful to uphold certain contacts with
the adversary all along the conflict, namely via
intermediaries.
The time for these first negotiations must also be a
time of preparation to a struggle of strengths;
Photo : Maintaining the pressure

5 - Reaching out to public opinion
1) Informing
After the failure of the first negotiations, injustice must be
showed publically using all means possible of communication,
information, awareness-raising or popularisation :
- Press reports handed over to journalists; press conferences
- Flyers, petitions, posters, wall inscriptions (easily erasable)
etc.
Refuse caricatures, outrages, invectives, insult. The power of
words comes from their accuracy, not their violence.

Reaching out to public opinion
It is important to use humour, a weapon with an
unmatchable power of conviction. What’s more, humour
is one of the best shields against hatred and violence. If
we laughed more, we would fight less often…
Furthermore, adversaries are generally incapable of
humour, which puts us in a favourable position.
2) Direct interventions
During public interventions, the corporal attitude of
demonstrators is an essential means of expression and
communication.
Photo below : Indian women marching for the right to natural resources
(earth, water, seeds, forests) at the initiative of the Ekta Parishad
Movement.

Direct interventions
■ Demonstrations : marching to a symbolic location
Sympathisers are invited to join the demonstrators.
Even if it silent – which is actually often more efficient
than any words, slogans, chants or music – the
demonstration must “say” something to its spectators,
thanks to banners or signs, at the same time as flyers
are being distributed to passers-by.
Photos :
– Demonstrations against the dictatorship in Burma
– Demonstration on the Bellecour Square in Lyon, supporting the
Burman democrats (2007)

■ March : demonstrators walk long distances, from town to
town, to raise awareness in the regions they cross, talking
with the people they meet and with the press about the
injustice they denounce and their aims.
Meetings can be organised at each stop.
Local committees prepare the route for the walkers and
greet them at their pass through towns.
-March for equality and against racism, a.k.a “Marche des Beurs”, 1993;
- Janadesh March from Gwalior to Dehli, India, organised in 2007 by the
Ekta Parishad Movement and claiming the right to land;
- Le Croisic-Paris March against misery and for food sovereignty (21
September-17 October 2012), supporting the Indian JanSatyagraha March
(3-11 October 1012).

■ Theatre-tract : the idea is to play a theatre scene during a
few minutes on the streets, a scene that sends out a simple,
condensed and clear message, the same one as the one
written on the tracts distributed at the same time.
■ Sit-in, die-in : demonstrators are sitting or lying down in a
symbolic location (ex.: sitting waiting for the return of a
delegate gone to present a demand; lying down simulating
the consequences of a nuclear explosion)
■ Marching dressed up as sandwiches at peak hour. On
chasubles are written the appropriate messages.

■ Hours or circles of silence. People gather in a symbolic
place, stand in silence, forwarding their message only via
signs and banners. Others can distribute tracts and
exchange with passers-by.
■ Forming a chain. Demonstrators with chasubles chain up
to the barriers of a public building. They are generally
detached from it by the police. The press photo will provoke
the best impact.
Photos :
- Circle of Silence in Toulouse demonstrating against retention conditions of
immigrants;
- Nonviolent Civic Action Chain during the war in Algeria.

■ Limited Hunger strikes : the principle is to stop eating
(but it is important to drink water) between 3 to 20 days, in
order to capture the attention of the ones responsible for
the injustice and public opinion. The personality of the
striker(s) plays an important role in the impact the strike will
have.
Ex.: hunger strike of men and women in Bolivia in 1978,
which destabilised the regime led by General Banzer.
“It would be wrong to believe that the solely through ethics
and persuasion can we obtain justice. It is not that moral is
useless, but we need to support ourselves with the power
of real coercion.” Martin Luther King

6 – Give an ultimatum
If negotiations to end the conflict hit refusal, it becomes
necessary to set a last deadline beyond which the movement will
launch its actions.
When persuasion is insufficient, other means of pressure and
constraint – albeit respectful of the opponent – must be
implemented.
The ultimatum, last phase of the negotiations and beginning of
the struggle, will often be rejected as “inadmissible blackmailing”.

7 – Direct actions
1. Direct actions of Noncooperation
This type of action aims at drying up the adversary’s sources of
power and depriving him from what maintains his position.
It is essential that the attitudes of non-cooperation suggested by
the movement be carried by the biggest number, and watch out
not to keep them in the hands of an elite.
■ Dismissal of titles and decorations : symbols have less or more
importance, but the impact of such dismissals can be very strong
on public opinion.
Photo : General Jacques de Bollardière sent back his medal of Grand Officer of the
Légion d’Honneur to the President of the Republic in 1973 as sign of protest against
France’s nuclear strategy and practices in the Pacific.

7- Direct actions
1) Direct actions of Noncooperation
■ Operation “Stay at home” : the population is asked to cease
all activity during a whole day, half a day, a few hours… Streets
are deserted, shops closed.
■ Strike : collectively, workers decide to stop their activity in
order to obtain from their employer the satisfaction of a demand
of theirs. For decades, striking was a necessary and efficient
means at the service of the less fortunate socio-professional
workers of a company, but due to certain perversions of trade
union movements, its legitimacy has suffered.
Photos :
- Rowlatt Act, repressive legislation voted by the English and against which
Gandhi organised, on 6th April 1919 a national hartal (stay at home operation);
- 1936 strikes in France

7- Direct actions
1) Direct actions of Noncooperation : Strikes
What’s more, the accuracy of a strike is often questioned
today. When railway workers, to defend the SNCF
(French Railroad Company) go on strike that discredits
railroad transport with regard to the company and
passengers, they actually contribute to reinforcing the use
of cars and trucks…
Other means must therefore be found, that pressure
employers without sanctioning users or threaten the
company itself. For instance, not controlling tickets.

7- Direct actions
1) Direct actions of Noncooperation : Boycotts
■ Boycott : refusal to buy a product or use a service, in order to
deprive the producer or service provider of his or her financial
compensation (non-cooperation of consumers).
It is not necessary for the boycott to be total to be useful.
Boycotters place themselves near vending places to explain
what’s at stake to consumers.
The action should be long term.
Photos : - Charles Cunningham Boycott (1832-1897), English land owner against
whom was launched, in 1879 and by farmers of the Farming League, a blockade
that sacrificed a crop.
To be precise, the blockage is the producer’s refusal to supply, erecting a barrier
(terrestrial, maritime, areal) against the introduction of goods in a town or country.
The boycott is the consumer’s refusal to buy.
- Boycott of Montgomery (Alabama) bus services at the initiative of Martin Luther
King from 5th December 1955 to 21st December 1956. After over a year, the
company almost went bankrupt and Blacks obtained the same rights as Whites.

7- Direct actions
1) Direct actions of Noncooperation : Civil disobedience
No society can spare itself from installing rules and laws to
organise life between Men. But laws are not carved in marble.
They are the result of the evolution of morals, mentalities, of
debate and democratic struggles.
When the law authorises injustices in an established disorder, it
is not only a right to disobey but even a duty.
It is because citizens believe in law and justice that they must
denounce unjust laws and orders. They must take action
against unjust laws, be it through civil disobedience, in order to
promote justice.
Photos : Étienne de la Boétie and his Discourse on Voluntary Servitude (Discours
sur la Servitude Volontaire), circa 1548.

7- Direct actions
What makes an injustice is not the unjust law, but the obedience
to it. The best way to fight against injustice is therefore to
disobey it.
Civil disobedience is a “public, nonviolent, consciously decided
and political act, done against the law and most often realised to
foster a change of law or government policy. By acting this way,
it is those who act call for citizens’ sense of justice” (John
Rawls).
Photos : - Henry David Thoreau, author of an essay on Civil Disobedience
- John Rawls (1921-2002), American political theorist
See the three slides specific to Civil Disobedience

7- Direct actions
This political act calls for actors to develop a political
thought, competence and consciousness.
The ones who choose to disobey, while denouncing the
unjust law, ask for a more just one.
Often, they make real suggestions prepared by lawyers.
“We have an obligation, not only legal but also moral, to
obey just laws, but we have the moral and legal obligation
to disobey unjust ones.” Martin Luther King
Photo : GMO reapers do not contest research on GMO but their harvesting.

7- Direct actions
■ Rent withholding : for instance, while waiting for restorations
to be made in a building. The rent is paid by tenants but
blocked on an account.
■ Auto-reduction : either because we believe certain prices are
excessively high, or because we believe the policy of a State or
company to be noxious, and reduce ourselves the price asked
for this or that service, in the frame of an organisation bringing
together large numbers of users.

7- Direct actions
■ Tax refusal: the idea is not to contest the principle of
taxes per se, real solidarity practice which unites all
members of a community. But when taxes fuel injustices,
the duty of solidarity with the victims can mean not paying
them.
Paying taxes is not merely an administrative formality, it is
a political act. Defending one’s right as taxpayer is not
only done by refusing to pay : it can also be reached by
redistributing the tax money and granting it to projects
which contribute to building social justice.
Photo below : the sheep pen in La Blaquière on the Larzac, built in the
1970’ thanks to redistributed money taxpayers refused to pay the State.

7- Direct actions
■ Unlimited hunger strike : death threat on oneself to
present a demand in exceptional circumstances, when
stakes are high.
The chosen objective must be reasonable enough to be
reached in the period of time a person can effectively not
eat. If this were not the case, the action would be desperate
and hopeless, but would not be a nonviolent action.
Photos :
- On 13th January 1948, Gandhi starts his last hunger strike in Dehli and
obtains the end of inter-religious confrontations.
- Louis Lecoin (1888-1971) obtained from French President Charles de
Gaulle, in 1962 at the age of 74, a status for conscientious objectors after a
hunger strike that lasted 22 days.

Direct actions
2) Direct actions of Intervention
They aim to provoke a change by intervening directly or against
one’s interests.
■ Occupation: occupying the opponent’s buildings and act as if
they were one’s own. I.e., no degradation, avoid any kind of
physical or verbal violence. This does not forbid consulting or
borrowing (and returning after having photocopied…)
documents concerning the ongoing conflict.
A tight sit-in in front of the door can help the interlocutor from
running away and avoid dialogue…
Photo : Guy and Marisette Tarlier, peasants from the Larzac, judged in July 1976
by the Court in Millau for having stolen, along with 20 others, compromising
documents from the military base Genie-Domaines in the Larzac on 28th June
1976.

Direct actions
■ Obstruction consists in hindering circulation on public
roads or preventing the entrance to a building with an
impassable obstacle for those who would want to enter.
It is best if the obstruction be realised by a large amount
of people: the risks are then smaller and the action has a
better chance of being understood by the population.
Photos :
- Czechoslovakia, 21-28th August 1968. The population blocked soviet
tanks from entering Prague
- Philippines, 23rd February 1986. The crowd formed a human barricade
in front of the tanks sent by Dictator Marcos to attack “rebel” democrats.
Minister of Defence Ponce Enrile and Army Chief General Ramos, who
had rallied to the cause defended by Cory Aquino, had taken refuge in
Aguinaldo barracks in the centre of Manilla.

Direct actions
■ Civil usurpation consists, for civil servants, workers and
citizens, to occupy their jobs in order to maintain the
functioning of institutions, companies and other structures,
against the power in lace and in favour of resistance.
Another form of civil usurpation would be for a large amount of
people to use the name or quality of a prosecuted person or
persecuted group in order to demand the same treatment
Photos :
- Albert Chambon (1909-2002), head of the Super-NAP Network (Noyautage
des Administrations Publiques, in Enhglish “cleansing of public administration”)
who infiltrated high administration during Nazi occupation.
-The Yellow Star worn by Danish Jewish population during the Second World
War in solidarity with the Jewish community.

8 - A constructive Program
A constructive program consists in organising, in parallel with
institutions and structures which are contested and with which
we refuse to collaborate, new institutions and structures that
bring a constructive solution to a give problem.
The realisation of the constructive program must help those
until then kept in a precarious position within an economic
system to take their own destiny in hand and participate
directly in the management of the matters that concern them.
Without a constructive program, nonviolent action is kept
prisoner of protest and refusal.
Photos:
- In Poland during Nazi occupation, the Komplety were secret schools and
universities.
- Solar panels, an energy alternative

9 - Playing with repression
A nonviolent movement is in a better position than a violent
one when it comes to facing repression by the power in place.
- If I use violence, I don’t create debate within public opinion
on the injustice I fight, but on the violence I commit. I must
then justify myself before the public opinion who accuses me.
- If I use nonviolence, I accuse the power to justify the
repressive violence and brutality it uses.
A nonviolent campaign must count with as much as on
repression.
Photos :
- Amritsar massacre perpetrated by the English on 13th April 1919, on
command of General Dyer against Indian independents. 379 were killed and
1137 wounded.
- English repression against Indians wanting to take over Salt storages in
1930.

Playing with repression
It is essential not to provoke a repression that couldn’t later be
handled or to take inconsiderate risks.
It is important to count on Courts where the accused can
undergo trial.
Repression puts real figures and what’s at stake under the
light.
The itinerary of a nonviolent activist often – if not always –
includes jail time. That is also where he or she is most efficient,
to the point that a government must resort to taking him or her
out or not put him or her in in the first place.
Photos : Gandhi, M. L. King in prison; José Bové on his way to prison.

Playing with repression
The movement will only get stronger with a growing amount of
people transgressing the norm : by acting for a just cause with
just means, the people become stronger than government.
Activists are sanctioned (fines, unemployment, prison) and must
count on active solidarity from the whole movement.
If repression doesn’t succeed in breaking the movement’s
determination, the power in place has no other solution but to
find a negotiated solution to the conflict.
Photos :
- During the Salt March in 1930, 60 000 nonviolent Indian activists were
imprisoned.
- Amnesty International’s campaigns and advocating are indispensable to political
prisoners all over the world..

10 - Final Negotiations
Negotiations, even if they start well, are yet another struggle and
not a dialogue that will take place in a trusting atmosphere.
It is important not to cry out victory too soon, but to stay on
ones guards, to not stop the action, to not say anything that
would destabilise activists and public opinion.
Maybe will it be necessary to accept a compromise, an
honourable settlement that will help the adversary not “loose
face”, but even then, no compromise should be made on what is
essential. The agreement could not have for consequence
to revive tensions between victims of the injustice and those
who are responsible for it.
Because then, the party can begin…
Photos : - The Irwin-Gandhi Pact signed on 5th March 1931 after the Salt March.
- The agreement reached between Indian government and Ekta Parishad
(Rajagopal P.V.) movement on 11th October 2012 after the JanSatyagraha which
brought together over 50 000 Indian activists.

11- Exercising power at the grassroots
Once the objective has been reached, victory is enough to bring
hope back to all those who, across the country or the world, are
victims of similar injustices.
The example of such a nonviolent struggle can create a dynamic
for popular struggles, where citizens learn self-confidence,
citizenship and participative democracy.
Photo : the “Arab Spring”, which began in Dec. 2010, in Tunisia,
Egypt, Libya, Bahrein, Yemen, Syria.

Exercising power at the grassroots
In order to do so, it is necessary to :
- Question the ideological pillars of society : competition as
principle and way of governing society and the planet, greed and
“always more”, the myth of unlimited growth (manipulative
advertising, planned obsolescence, consumer credit, etc.)
- Imagine and implement in parallel alternatives to
agriculture, industrial production, exchanges,
consumerism, habitat, energy, transports, etc.
- Invent different ways of functioning in companies, local
administration, education, experimenting complementary and
alternative currencies, etc.

12 – Exercising political power
The rise of nonviolent struggles and alternative
experimentations create the conditions that allow a population
to gather forces in political organisation.
The aim is then no longer the fight against injustice and
incoherence within society, but to exercise power
democratically : with ethical and long term vision, in the name
of the common good.
Indeed, “A well organised Revolution starts with oneself” *,
but a well organised revolution stops with the exercise of
political power…
*said Lanza del Vasto

Exercising political power
Indeed, nonviolence leads us to reject the State as
institution that holds the monopoly of legitimate violence.
But a nonviolent struggle should not be envisaged as an
unstoppable guerrilla against the abuses of political and
economic power.
1. In a democratic society, elections are the path
followed by an organisation which has been able to
accede power thanks to the support of a majority.
If elections are not sufficient to change society, they are a
necessary condition.

2. In a non-democratic society, the political movement that
incarnates the people’s hope must organise civil disobedience
and call the population to participate in pacific insurrection until
the power in place yields.
Leaders of resistance movements then become the
representatives of legitimate authority, and are therefore able to
constitute a temporary and parallel government.
Photos:
- Cory Aquino (1933-2009), Opposition Leader in the Philippines under
Marcos dictatorship, President from 1986 to 1992.
- Lech Walesa (born in 1943), Solidanosc leader in Poland under Soviet rule,
President from 1990 to 1995.
- Vaclav Havel (1936-2011), Charter 77 Leader in Czechoslovakia under
Soviet Rule, President from 1993 to 2003.
- Nelson Mandela (1918-2013), Apartheid Opposition leader in South Africa,
President from 1994 to 1999.

History proves that deceptions can be great for those who awaited
the arrival in power of democrats (or at least more than their
predecessors) at the head of the State.
For instance, Lula Da Silva in Brazil or Barack Obama in the United States (photos)
The change launched by the men and women in power inspired
by nonviolence would be considerable in itself. But reforms
would be long and slow, and resistances numerous.
When talking about nonviolent management of society, it is
important not to imagine an ideal society were the demons
of violence would have been exorcised and where citizens
lived in total harmony.

On the contrary, reality needs to be envisaged with all its
weights and contradictions, the aim being to solve them.
The starting point should not be a nonviolent ideal and
attempt to apply it to reality.
One should rather start from reality and strive to reach the
ideal.
■

S. — 01. The means and steps of a nonviolent action campaign

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S. — 01. The means and steps of a nonviolent action campaign