UNARMED INSURRECTIONS Social Movements, Protest, and Contention Series Editor: Bert Klandermans, Free University, Amsterdam Associate Editors: Ron R. Aminzade, University of Minnesota David S. Meyer, University of California, Irvine Verta A. Taylor, University of California, Santa Barbara Volume 22 Kurt Schock, Unarmed Insurrections: People Power Movements in Nondemocracies Volume 21 Christian Davenport, Hank Johnston, and Carol Mueller, editors, Repression and Mobilization Volume 20 Nicole C. Raeburn, Changing Corporate America from Inside Out: Lesbian and Gay Workplace Rights Volume 19 Vincent J. Roscigno and William F. Danaher, The Voice of Southern Labor: Radio, Music, and Textile Strikes, 1929-1934 Volume 18 Maryjane Osa, Solidarity and Contention: Networks of Polish Opposition Volume 17 Mary Margaret Fonow, Union Women: Forging Feminism in the United Steelworkers of America Volume 16 Bert Klandermans and Suzanne Staggenborg, editors, Methods of Social Movement Research Volume 15 Sharon Kurtz, Workplace Justice: Organizing Multi-identity Movements Volume 14 Sanjeev Khagram, James V. Riker, and Kathryn Sikkink, editors, Restructuring World Politics: Transnational Social Movements, Networks, and Norms Volume 13 Sheldon Stryker, Timothy J. Owens, and Robert W. White, editors, Self, Identity, and Social Movements For more books in the series, seepage 230. UNARMED INSURRECTIONS People Power Movements in Nondemocracies Kurt Schock Social Movements, Protest, and Contention Volume 22 University of Minnesota Press Minneapolis • London Copyright 2005 by the Regents of the University of Minnesota All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Published by the University of Minnesota Press 111 Third Avenue South, Suite 290 Minneapolis, MN 55401-2520 http://www.upress.umn.edu Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Schock, Kurt, 1963- Unarmed insurrections : people power movements in nondemocracies / Kurt Schock. p. cm. — (Social movements, protest, and contention ; v. 22) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8166-4192-7 (he: alk. paper) — ISBN 0-8166-4193-5 (pb : alk. paper) 1. Nonviolence. 2. Social movements. I. Title. II. Series. HM1281.S362004 2004015059 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper The University of Minnesota is an equal-opportunity educator and employer. 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 To my parents, Paula and Jacob Schock This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgments ix Abbreviations xi Introduction xv 1. From "People s War" to "People Power"? 1 2. Political Process and Nonviolent Action Approaches to Political Contention 24 3. People Power Unleashed: South Africa and the Philippines 56 4. People Power Suppressed: Burma and China 91 5. Challenging Monarchies and Militaries: People Power in Nepal and Thailand 120 6. Trajectories of Unarmed Insurrections 142 Notes 173 Works Cited 185 Index 211 This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments I gratefully acknowledge the Albert Einstein Institution for providing me with funding to work on this project. (The views expressed in this work are not necessarily those of the Albert Einstein Institution.) I am especially grateful to Ronald McCarthy and Bruce Jenkins of the Albert Einstein Institution for their enthusiastic support of this research project and their even greater patience as this project underwent mutation and dragged on for a few years past its originally projected date of completion. Thanks go to Craig Jenkins and Brian Martin for penetrating com- ments and criticisms of the manuscript. Thanks also go to Ed Amenta, Jeff Goodwin, Ed Lehman, and participants in the workshop on Politics, Power, and Protest, Department of Sociology, New York University, and to Andy Andrews, Irene Bloemraad, Marshall Ganz, Ziad Munson, and participants in the Meaning and Mobilization workshop, Department of Sociology, Harvard University, for insightful comments and criticisms of various papers that were later to become parts of this book. The Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University provided an environment conducive for working on this book while I was a visiting scholar there in 1998—99. This book also benefited from my par- ticipation in the summer institute on contentious politics at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences in Stanford, California, during the summer of 2000. Thanks go to the directors of the institute, Doug McAdam and Charles Tilly, as well as the wonderful group of participants for providing a stimulating environment. I would also like to acknowledge David Hosford, former dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers IX X ACKNOWLEDGMENTS University, Newark, for his promotion of faculty research and his support for my competitive fellowship leave, and Clay Hartjen, chair of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Rutgers University, Newark, and his wife, Prya, for their support as well. A Rutgers University research council grant in 1998 helped get this project off the ground. Thanks go to Carrie Mullen, the acquisitions editor at the University of Minnesota Press, and the editors of the series Social Movements, Protest, and Contention, Ronald Aminzade, Bert Klandermans, David Meyers, and Verta Taylor. Especially useful were the constructive criticisms by two read- ers, Lester Kurtz and Sarah Soule. Finally, thanks go to the Chakkappan sisters, Roopa and Elizabeth, for their friendship and support. Needless to say, all problems with the finished project are entirely of my own creation. Abbreviations South Africa ANC African National Congress AZAPO Azanian Peoples' Organization BCM Black Consciousness Movement BPC Black Peoples Convention COSATU Congress of South African Trade Unions FOSATU Federation of South African Trade Unions MDM Mass Democratic Movement MK Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation) NECC National Education Crisis Committee NUWCC National Unemployed Workers' Coordinating Committee Oassa Organisation for Appropriate Social Services in South Africa PAC Pan African Congress SASO South African Students Organization SAWCO Sarmcol Workers' Co-operative UDF United Democratic Front The Philippines Bayan Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (New Nationalist Alliance) BCC Basic Christian Communities XI Xll ABBREVIATIONS CBCP Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines CNL Christians for National Liberation COMELEC Commission on Elections CORD Coalition for the Restoration of Democracy CPP Communist Party of the Philippines EDSA Epifanio de los Santos Avenue JAJA Justice for Aquino, Justice for All KBL Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (New Society Movement) KMP Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (National Farmers' Movement) KMU Kilusang May Uno (May First Movement) LABAN Lakas ng Bayan (Strength of the Nation) NAMFREL National Movement for Free Elections NDF National Democratic Front NPA New People's Army PDP Pilipino Democratic Party PKP Partido Komunistang Pilipinas (Philippine Communist Party) RAM Reform the Armed Forces Movement TUCP Trade Union Congress of the Philippines UNIDO United Democratic Opposition Burma ABFSU All Burma Federation of Students' Unions ABSDF All Burma Students Democratic Front ABYMU All Burma Young Monks' Union BSPP Burma Socialist Program Party DAB Democratic Alliance GSC General Strike Committee MIS Military Intelligence Service NCGUB National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma NLD National League for Democracy NUP National Unity Party SLORC State Law and Order Restoration Council ABBREVIATIONS xiii China BSAF Beijing Students' Autonomous Federation BWAF Beijing Workers' Autonomous Federation CCP Chinese Communist Party Nepal NC Nepali Congress Party ULF United Left Front UNPM United National People's Movement Thailand CPD Campaign for Popular Democracy NPKC National Peace-Keeping Council SF Students' Federation of Thailand This page intentionally left blank Introduction Nonviolence is a paradox. Although its promise as a method for challenging oppression is a recurrent theme throughout history, as exemplified by Jesus of Nazareth, Mohandas Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr., contentious politics continues to be characterized by armed rebellion, terrorism, and civil war, especially in less-developed areas of the world. Furthermore, nonviolent action is often viewed in a paradoxical manner. While proponents of non- violent action claim that it is a panacea for the world s problems, detractors claim that it is a futile strategy for promoting change in repressive contexts, that violence is the ultimate form of power, or that structural relations de- termine the direction and pace of political change. Nonviolent action must not be romanticized, but neither should it be underestimated. In this study I note the potential of nonviolent action as a method for challenging op- pression and injustice, and empirically examine both "positive" cases, where it promoted political change, and "negative" cases, where struggles waged primarily through nonviolent action were suppressed. Rather than focusing on the moral force of nonviolent action, I view nonviolent action as "politics by other means" and focus on its pragmatic force. In doing so, I hope to contribute to a more nuanced and empirically grounded understanding of nonviolent action. At the end of the twentieth century, undoubtedly the bloodiest century in human