In most cases, it’s reasonable to expect that groups of protesters will abide by the law. But there are times when doing so diminishes the effectiveness of the protests.
Elizabeth Gilbert at the European premiere of Eat, Pray, Love, London, September 2010.
Paul Jeffers/AP
Elizabeth Gilbert’s decision to cancel the publication of her latest novel needs to be understood in the context of a long history of symbolic protest.
Could non-violent action by women ultimately replace military violence? There is much to learn from the bravery of female-led resistance movements during the second world war.
Screengrab of unarmed Ukrainian civilians trying to stop Russian convoys.
Twitter
When the government claims that only non-disruptive protests are “civil”, it risks censoring those who seek to go beyond mere symbolic actions and have some impact on others through their protest.
Celebrations on the street in Algiers on March 11, after President Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced he wouldn’t run for a fifth term.
Ryad Kramdi/AFP
Howard Thurman, a mentor to MLK, first met Gandhi during a visit to India in 1936. He came to understand nonviolence as a force more powerful than hate that had the power to transform the world.
Fracking protestors Rich Loizou, Simon Blevins and Richard Roberts released from prison on October 17.
PA Wire
Thanks to a violent fringe of protesters backed by Hamas, a far larger non-violent movement is struggling to control the narrative of what’s happening in Gaza.
Silent protest parade in New York against the East St. Louis riots, 1917.
Library of Congress
Thousands marched in silence against racial violence after a riot left hundreds of blacks dead and thousands homeless. The demands of black people in 2017 remain the same as they did in 1917.
Police walk past Borough Market after the attack at London Bridge on June 3.
David Mirzoeff/PA Wire
South African universities are aflame as student protests for free education turn violent. But, would a non-violent approach, as preached by Martin Luther King, be more effective in their cause?