Strategic Nonviolent Power: the Science of Satyagraha Mark A
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
STRATEGIC NONVIOLENT POWER Global Peace Studies SERIES EDITOR: George Melnyk Global Peace Studies is an interdisciplinary series devoted to works dealing with the discourses of war and peace, conflict and post-conflict studies, human rights and inter- national development, human security, and peace building. Global in its perspective, the series welcomes submissions of monographs and collections from both scholars and activists. Of particular interest are works on militarism, structural violence, and postwar reconstruction and reconciliation in divided societies. The series encourages contributions from a wide variety of disciplines and professions including health, law, social work, and education, as well as the social sciences and humanities. SERIES TITLES: The ABCs of Human Survival: A Paradigm for Global Citizenship Arthur Clark Bomb Canada and Other Unkind Remarks in the American Media Chantal Allan Strategic Nonviolent Power: The Science of Satyagraha Mark A. Mattaini STRATEGIC THE SCIENCE OF NONVIOLENT SATYAGRAHA POWER MARK A. MATTAINI Copyright © 2013 Mark A. Mattaini Published by AU Press, Athabasca University 1200, 10011 – 109 Street, Edmonton, AB T5J 3S8 ISBN 978-1-927356-41-8 (print) 978-1-927356-42-5 (PDF) 978-1-927356-43-2 (epub) A volume in Global Peace Studies ISSN 1921-4022 (print) 1921-4030 (digital) Cover and interior design by Marvin Harder, marvinharder.com. Printed and bound in Canada by Marquis Book Printers. Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Mattaini, Mark A. Strategic nonviolent power : the science of satyagraha / Mark A. Mattaini. (Global peace studies, ISSN 1921-4022) Includes bibliographical references and index. Issued also in electronic formats. ISBN 978-1-927356-41-8 1. Nonviolence—History. 2. Nonviolence—Psychological aspects. I. Title. II. Series: Global peace studies HM1281.M38 2013 303.6’109 C2013-901173-0 We are grateful to the Consortium of Peace Studies, at the University of Calgary, for their generous support of this publication. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund (CBF) for our publishing activities. Assistance provided by the Government of Alberta, Alberta Multimedia Development Fund. This publication is licensed under a Creative Commons licence, Attribution–Noncommercial–No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada: see www.creativecommons.org. The text may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes, provided that credit is given to the original author. To obtain permission for uses beyond those outlined in the Creative Commons licence, please contact AU Press, Athabasca University, at [email protected]. For all of those, living and dead, who courageously stand in solidarity for justice, beauty, and liberation and, of course, for Christine I am but a humble explorer of the science of nonviolence. — Mohandas K. Gandhi, November 20, 1924 CONTENTS List of Tables and Figures xi Acknowledgements xiii PART ONE Understanding Nonviolent Power 1 1 Nonviolent Power 3 2 Strategic Nonviolent Resistance 19 3 Behavioural Science Principles for Nonviolent Strategy 47 4 Behavioural Systems Science and Nonviolent Struggle 64 5 Sustaining Resistance Movements: Solidarity, Discipline, and Courage 89 6 Organization and Leadership in Resistance Movements 117 PART TWO Strategic Options 133 7 Constructive Noncooperation 137 8 Nonviolent Persuasion and Protest 167 9 Disruptive Noncooperation 202 10 Resource Disruption and Retaliation 234 11 Toward “Undreamt of” Discoveries 251 Endnotes 269 Bibliography 297 Index 309 TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1 Principles of strategic nonviolent conflict 33 2 Sample practices, in key community sectors, that support or oppose youth activism 71 3 “CORE Rules for Action” from the Congress of Racial Equality 106 Figure 1 Sample force field analysis 75 2 Key contextual, structural, and consequential factors associated with attending school by Afghan girls and women 78 3 Some interdependencies among classes of actors in the Philippine People Power revolution 82 4 An example of a metacontingency and some of its component systems and dynamics 86 5 A tool for exploring factors that could contribute to building morale through celebratory meals together 93 6 Interlocking practices that might encourage scenes of association among oppressed shopkeepers 150 7 Some behavioural systems dynamics present in the 2007 uprising in Burma 198 8 Variables influencing the practice of repression among generals in the Burmese regime 199 9 A schematic of the concept of metacontingency, as elaborated by Houmanfar, Rodrigues, and Ward 224 10 Illustration of the importance of essential and facilitating resources and conditions to an opponent’s action 239 11 A contingency template for analyzing the variables that shape and support shared practices among a class of actors 259 12 Template for analyzing interlocking practices within an opponent’s source network 263 ACKnowleDGEMENTS One day in February 2011, Ines Doukali, a twenty-three-year-old call centre worker, stood on the west side of the Casbah plaza in Tunis, holding up a sign that read simply, “Peaceful.” She and thousands of other protesters were there to demand the resignation of Mohamed Ghannouchi, the prime minister. Ghannouchi had close ties to the country’s long-standing dictator, Zine el- Abidine Ben Ali, who had been forced into exile by the popular revolution the month before. As Steve Coll reported in “The Casbah Coalition,” Doukali chose to take this action to try to prevent the young revolution from disintegrating into violence. Up to then, she had not participated in the protests, but she found the courage to stand for liberation, informed by a clear instinct that nonviolent struggle was the route to achieving it—an instinct that is consis- tent with current research. In Why Civil Resistance Works, Erica Chenoweth and Maria Stephan persuasively argue the point: nonviolent resistance simply works better. Many scholars and leaders of civil resistance campaigns could be acknowledged here: both their names and their work are woven into the fabric of this volume. The real credit for the advance of justice and freedom, how- ever, must go to Ines Doukali and the millions of other ordinary, courageous people who change the history of humanity by participating in campaigns of civil resistance, proving that the ultimate power lies with the people. It is my belief that the insights of behavioural systems science can contribute signifi- cantly to the effectiveness of these struggles for justice and that advancing this science is one way to stand in solidarity with ordinary people taking such extraordinary action. Therefore . this book. I want to thank members of the Illinois Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends and the 57th Street Meeting for the extensive support they provided throughout the development and production of this volume. I especially want to thank Athabasca University Press for their tremendous contributions in strengthening the manuscript and particularly for making it possible for xiii Acknowledgements people anywhere in the world to access this work without cost. For the sake of justice, knowledge must be part of the Commons. xiv PART ONE UNDerstanDING NONVIOLENT Power Mohandas K. Gandhi often stated that nonviolence—by which he meant nonviolent struggle for liberation, not passive acceptance—is, or could be, a science. This book takes him at his word, applying the emerging science of behavioural systems analysis to the practice of nonviolent struggle and civil resistance. A valid scientific approach requires an acceptance of uncertainty and a tentativeness and humility regarding “truth,” both of which character- ized Gandhi’s life and thinking. In adopting a stance of humble curiosity, practitioners of science can advance human and other life; should they lose their humility, science can contribute to terrible damage. In attempting to bring state-of-the-science knowledge to nonviolent struggle in this book, I fully acknowledge that such work is in its early days. Valuable social science research exploring dimensions of nonviolent struggle is available. Over four decades ago, Robert Klitgaard used game theory to analyze Gandhi’s tactics, with some success, while Amut Nakhre subse- quently employed survey methods to study commitment to nonviolent norms among those practicing civil resistance.1 Gregory Wiltfang and Doug McAdam have researched predictors of such activists’ willingness to engage in high-risk and high-cost activities, and James Downton and Paul Wehr have examined factors that contribute to the persistence of peace activism.2 Clearly, these and many related investigations have made valuable contributions. The approach taken here, however, draws on a different body of scientific knowledge and 1 Strategic Nonviolent Power theory, which I believe has unique contributions to make not only to the study of resistance movements themselves but also, and especially, to the practice of effective resistance. As Gene Sharp, the most important civil resistance scholar and practitioner of our time, once told me, the study and practice of nonvio- lent struggle needs to be examined from many different perspectives if we are to continue to advance both theory and methods. In Part 1, I reformulate current thought about and experience in non- violent struggle for liberation by drawing on behavioural science theory and research, and emphasizing the behavioural systems that constitute both resistance movements and structures of oppression. The first two chapters