Une vision politique, une analyse structurelle de l'oppression et une stratégie d'organisation pratique visant une société qui aborde les préjudices sans recourir aux prisons, à la police, à l'armée ou à d'autres systèmes violents.
Une grande manifestation publique qui montre l'ampleur du pouvoir populaire derrière une cause.
Action qui change nos circonstances sans remettre le pouvoir à un intermédiaire. L'action directe interrompt le cours normal des affaires, prend le leadership et introduit un récit alternatif.
Une manifestation de masse décentralisée où un grand nombre de personnes expriment leur soutien par de nombreuses petites actions simples et coordonnées : frapper des casseroles, éteindre les lumières, porter la même couleur de vêtements, etc.
Votre action doit parler d'elle-même. Sa logique interne doit être évidente à l'œil extérieur. Lorsqu'une protestation a une bonne logique d'action, son défi dramatique au pouvoir raconte une histoire claire et convaincante.
Les actions politiques tendent soit à exprimer une identité, soit à essayer de remporter des changements concrets. Apprenez à faire la différence pour pouvoir choisir celle qui sert le mieux votre objectif.
Comment 17 jeunes activistes ont mis leur vie en jeu, organisant des grèves de la faim et des manifestations surprises, pour renverser l’impitoyable dictateur de l’Angola et mettre fin à 30 ans d’oppression.
L'Art de l'Accueil est un ensemble de principes et de pratiques pour exploiter la capacité d'auto-organisation et la sagesse collective des groupes afin de relever des défis complexes.
Un rassemblement politique organisé en une immense œuvre d'art aérienne humaine, composant une seule photo emblématique qui capture ce qui est en jeu.
Une grande réunion communautaire pour discuter de questions importantes, partager des informations et tenir les dirigeants responsables.
En 1999, dans un carnaval de non-violence créative, 70 000 manifestants ont fermé la réunion de l'OMC à Seattle, marquant une victoire contre le néolibéralisme et lançant le mouvement pour la justice mondiale aux États-Unis.
Si la négociation avec l'État a bien un rôle à jouer dans la victoire d'un mouvement social, le succès dépend entièrement de l'endurance et de la détermination des citoyens à maintenir la pression dans la rue, loin de la table de négociation.
Le succès ou l'échec d'une campagne dépend souvent du fait d’identifier judicieusement la cible — la personne ou l'entité spécifique ayant le pouvoir institutionnel de répondre aux revendications — puis de poursuivre cette cible de manière stratégique.
Une chaîne humaine ou une barrière physique qui arrête quelque chose de mauvais (une mine de charbon ou une réunion de Shell), protège quelque chose de bon (une forêt ou une maison), ou fait une déclaration purement symbolique.
En avril 2014, le groupe terroriste Boko Haram a enlevé 276 lycéennes en internat, ce qui a déclenché une énorme campagne mondiale exigeant leur retour.
Faites entendre votre résistance haut et fort en faisant beaucoup de bruit en masse — en frappant des casseroles, en soufflant des sifflets, en klaxonnant ou en déclenchant des sonneries de téléphone portable.
En choisissant un hashtag stratégique et en organisant la conversation qui en découle, vous pouvez utiliser Twitter et d'autres plateformes de médias sociaux pour orienter le débat et élargir votre soutien.
Les militants BDS du monde entier ont forcé la société française Veolia à se retirer du marché israélien après lui avoir fait perdre des contrats d'une valeur de 20 milliards de dollars en raison de sa complicité dans les violations des droits de l'homme par Israël.
En vous faisant passer pour votre cible par le biais d'un faux communiqué de presse ou d'un événement médiatique, vous pouvez utiliser la satire et l'exagération pour dénoncer une injustice ou démontrer qu'une autre réalité est possible.
Le capitalisme est un système économique axé sur le profit qui, malgré ses supposés avantages matériels, est enraciné dans l'inégalité, l'exploitation, la dépossession et la destruction de l'environnement.
Cartographier les dynamiques de pouvoir en jeu pour identifier votre cible principale et concevoir une stratégie efficace pour votre campagne.
La stratégie constitue votre plan global ; les tactiques, elles, sont les actions que vous entreprenez pour la mettre en œuvre — une distinction cruciale pour une campagne efficace. N'organisez pas un rassemblement avant de savoir s'il va appuyer votre plan global.
En 2014, pour protester contre la corruption gouvernementale et les taux élevés de chômage des jeunes, de jeunes activistes ont peint deux cochons en jaune (la couleur du parti au pouvoir) et les ont laissés courir dans le Parlement de l'Ouganda.
Certaines personnes ne travaillent qu'à travers le système. D'autres ne font que le défier de l'extérieur. Mais les stratégies les plus puissantes conjuguent les deux, alliant la pression des mouvements sociaux et les efforts pour gagner et exercer le pouvoir public. (210/210)
Des visuels créatifs, des récits personnels puissants et la mise en lumière des coûts locaux peuvent participer à rendre personnel, viscéral et pertinent un problème autrement abstrait et lointain.
Offrir un service direct qui profite à votre communauté peut convaincre plus que n’importe quel argument. Vivre les valeurs de l'autonomie peut donner à la communauté les outils qu’il faut pour s’organiser de manière plus profonde.
Certaines personnes consacrent leur vie à une cause, d'autres ne peuvent s’engager qu’une heure par semaine. Certaines personnes peuvent prendre des risques, d'autres non. Votre campagne sera plus forte si vous offrez à votre communauté de nombreuses façons de s'impliquer.
Une intervention culturelle qui modifie une marque ou un mème pour faire un point politique subversif.
Une forme de désobéissance ascendante qui ravive les idées et les expériences vécues des indigènes pour contester l'impact de la colonisation historique et inverser sa trajectoire.
Un geste simple de rébellion (mettons, des milliers de personnes indigentes retroussant leurs poches tout en vaquant à leurs journées) peut alerter sur les inégalités économiques et paniquer les oppresseurs.
Plutôt que d'essayer de tout organiser jusqu’au dernier détail, quelques règles simples —« RDV à Wall St ; apportez une tente, » ou « frappez vos casseroles et poêles à midi » — suffisent souvent à déclencher une action de masse étonnamment efficace.
Retirer votre investissement d'une entreprise peut être une forme puissante de pression économique sur une industrie ou un État qui profite de l'injustice et de la destruction.
Violer une loi en public afin de contester la légitimité morale de cette loi spécifique (par exemple, la ségrégation raciale) ou une plus grande injustice commise par l'État (par exemple, la corruption).
Vous pourriez perturber un événement illégitime en criant ou en jetant des objets, mais cela pourrait ne pas aider votre cause. Pour surpasser le message de votre cible, il est souvent préférable de le perturber de manière créative : chanson, paillettes, théâtre.
Les pétitions peuvent souvent sembler inefficaces, mais lorsque vous les livrez de manière créative — avec de l'art, du théâtre ou de l'humour — vous pouvez rendre l'opinion publique plus visible pour une cible de campagne.
Les arbres ne peuvent pas s’exprimer ? Raté ! Avec de l’imagination, on peut donner une voix à ce qui n’en a pas - que ce soit des arbres ou des animaux - pour que les humains puissent entendre leur soufrance.
Un imposteur se faisant passer pour un porte-parole de Dow Chemical a annoncé en direct sur BBC World News que Dow dépenserait 12 milliards de dollars pour indemniser les victimes de la catastrophe de Bhopal, suscitant un désastre en termes de relations publiques pour Dow.
Le succès, selon un proverbe japonais, consiste à « Tomber sept fois, se relever huit. » Ce n'est qu’à travers l’expérimentation, l’action et la répétition qu’on peut apprendre de ses erreurs et transformer ses échecs en enseignements précieux.
Les étudiants ont occupé plus de 200 écoles à São Paulo pour protester contre le plan du gouverneur de fermer des écoles, le forçant à faire marche arrière et déclenchant une vague de résistance étudiante à travers le pays.
Une tradition d'organisation économique radicale émergeant d'Amérique latine qui s'efforce de remplacer la dépendance aux relations économiques d'exploitation par des "chaînes de solidarité" reliant des alternatives communautaires.
Comme une cible cède rarement après une seule action, il est souvent nécessaire d'augmenter stratégiquement la pression sur elle par une escalade progressive qui utilise un mélange diversifié de tactiques.
Si les mécanismes internationaux comme les protocoles des droits de l'homme des Nations Unies ne sont nullement une panacée contre les abus, les militants avisés peuvent y avoir recours pour faire pression sur les Etats voyous ou protéger les activistes.
Qu’il s’agisse d’un repérage pour un lieu d'action, d’une analyse de pouvoir de votre cible politique ou encore de réviser d’anciens épisodes d'une émission de télévision sur laquelle vous allez apparaître : Faites Vos Recherches !
Une manifestation spontanée, contagieuse et souvent festive qui utilise souvent les réseaux sociaux ou le bouche-à-oreille pour rassembler des gens à court préavis dans un endroit particulier à un moment particulier.
Comme le cadre autour d'une photographie, un cadre conceptuel met en lumière certains événements et faits, tout en rendant d'autres invisibles. Encadrer efficacement votre message peut faire la différence entre gagner et perdre.
En 2016, profitant d’une dynamique impulsée depuis près de dix ans, les Gambiens ont su saisir la chance qui s’offrait à eux de renverser un dictateur notoire.
Lorsque les autorités turques ont essayé de briser l'unité entre les manifestants anticapitalistes laïques et religieux, les musulmans pratiquants ont répondu en invitant tout le monde à un festin public pendant l'Iftar du Ramadan.
Une cessation de travail généralisée dans de nombreuses industries d'une ville, d'une région ou d'un pays. Les grèves générales sont dirigées par les travailleurs, impliquent souvent des communautés entières et peuvent être déclenchées par des édits politiques impopulaires.
Mobiliser un grand nombre de personnes en échangeant des histoires personnelles qui aident à construire un sentiment d'appartenance commune autour de valeurs et d'expériences partagées.
Une émission de talk-show hilarante que les travailleurs domestiques aux États-Unis appelaient pour obtenir des informations sur les heures supplémentaires, les exigences fiscales, la traite des êtres humains, et plus encore.
Malgré la répression de l’État, le peuple de Kisangani a forcé les autorités congolaises à faire valoir son droit constitutionnel et obtenu une source d’électricité fiable.
Que peuvent faire les gens lorsque des criminels ou des fonctionnaires corrompus sont au-dessus des lois ? Eh bien… les arrêter ! :-)
L'art cherche à explorer des questions profondes, tandis que la politique exige une direction et un message clairs. Le juste équilibre touche à la fois le cœur et l’esprit.
Dans une escalade absurde de représailles, des militants anti-mondialisation se sont retrouvés à lancer des ours en peluche sur la police avec une catapulte jouet, et la police s'est retrouvée l’objet de moqueries pour avoir pris cela au sérieux.
La désobéissance civile est le refus délibéré de se soumettre à des lois injustes. Dans le même esprit, la désobéissance culturelle est la subversion courageuse de normes « culturelles » injustes.
Le néolibéralisme traite les crises telles que les guerres, les catastrophes naturelles et les récessions comme des opportunités pour imposer la privatisation, la déréglementation et les réductions des services sociaux. Les mouvements sociaux doivent contester ces moments.
La gérontocratie est la domination des vieillardes et vieillards sur les jeunes — une forme d’oppression principalement exercée sur une société ou une culture, qui se réfère parfois aux gouvernements et autres institutions.
Le refus délibéré et public de manger, voire de boire, pour protester face à l’injustice ou aux excès de pouvoir. Une seule personne peut entamer une grève de la faim, ou bien des centaines solidairement.
Le chemin vers un monde meilleur peut – et souvent devrait – être une expérience nourrissante et joyeuse ! Trouvez du plaisir dans le processus, car comme l'a dit adrienne maree brown : « Se sentir bien n'est pas frivole, c'est la liberté. »
En 1930, Gandhi a mené la célèbre marche vers la mer pour collecter du sel (que les Indiens étaient interdits de produire), confrontant le Raj britannique à un dilemme et ouvrant la voie à l'indépendance de l'Inde.
Quoi de mieux que de mener une campagne qui gagne ? Ne pas la mener et vaincre quand même ! C’est possible avec une menace (crédible) à laquelle cède votre adversaire sans riposter (même si c’est du bluff).
Lorsque les organisateurs de première ligne passent plus de temps à rédiger des rapports de subvention qu'à changer le système, quelque chose ne va pas. Les personnes les plus touchées par l'injustice, et non celles travaillant pour de grandes ONG, devraient diriger le mouvement.
Des leaders de mouvements du monde entier critiquent l’aide étrangère en tant que forme inédite de dépendance néocoloniale, souhaitant que « la solidarité, pas la charité » fonde tout partenariat d’ONG.
Quand la résistance civile menace de renverser un dictateur, il peut tenter de la court-circuiter en cédant le pouvoir à une personne de son choix. C’est ce qu’on appelle un coup d’État du palais, ou « flou d’État » ;-)
Une projet artistique mondial qui renverse le modèle pré-établi d’aide internationale en recrutant des gens ordinaires au Ghana et partout dans les pays du Sud pour aider à « développer le Premier monde ».
Réaffirmer et approfondir le mouvement panafricain historique pour la liberté, la justice et la dignité sur l’ensemble du continent afin de mieux répondre aux défis lancés à l’Afrique actuellement.
Les richesses naturelles et culturelles nous appartiennent à tous, comme l'air, l'eau, les forêts, les bibliothèques et Internet. Ces dons partagés sont les fondations d'un monde plus juste et doivent être protégés et étendus.
Les diplômés au Zimbabwe ont fait de leur chômage une manifestation quotidienne, inscrivant dans les esprits le lien évident entre le chômage, la crise financière et la corruption.
La hausse des frais de scolarité de 2015 a provoqué une mobilisation étudiante nationale, exigeant une réforme intégrale et questionnant le statu quo économique, politique et social de la « nation arc-en-ciel ».
Pleurer en public en guise de protestation.
Des étudiants activistes ont suspendu des silhouettes humaines en mousse au-dessus d'une autoroute dangereuse à Beyrouth pour attirer l'attention sur les décès de piétons, réussissant à faire pression sur le conseil municipal pour construire une passerelle.
Des masses de personnes non armées l’ont maintes fois emporté sur des adversaires armées jusqu'aux dents grâce à des techniques humbles comme les grèves, les occupations, les boycotts et les sit-in. Mais cela a fonctionné uniquement parce que les participants sont restés non-violents.
Parfois, le cercle le moins structuré peut être le plus tyrannique. Créez un environnement participatif et accueillant en adoptant un processus de prise de décision transparent et en favorisant la redevabilité au sein du groupe.
Les actions efficaces doivent raconter une histoire. Une bonne histoire met en scène des personnages sympathiques, surtout des membres de la communauté impactée auxquels un public peut facilement s'identifier.
Pendant la campagne de réélection de George W. Bush en 2004, les Milliardaires pour Bush ont utilisé l'humour, le théâtre de guérilla et des actions médiatiques originales pour dramatiser les inégalités économiques et la corruption politique aux États-Unis.
Pour mettre en lumière les abus des travailleurs agricoles et identifier des solutions, la Coalition des Travailleurs d'Immokalee (une organisation communautaire de travailleurs agricoles) a créé le Musée de l'Esclavage Moderne de Floride.
Occuper physiquement un espace contesté pour créer une communauté et perturber le fonctionnement du pouvoir. Les exemples incluent : sit-ins, occupations d'usines, squats de logements, occupations de places publiques ou de terres menacées.
Incitez les journalistes à couvrir votre sujet en leur fournissant des matériaux imprimés et vidéo qui représentent déjà la moitié de leur travail, tout en vous accordant plus de contrôle sur l'histoire que vous souhaitez raconter.
Intervertir les boîtes vocales des poupées Barbie et GI Joe a généré des résultats grotesques et des échanges nécessaires sur les stéréotypes de genre en Amérique.
Identifier les institutions dont le soutien est indispensable pour votre cible afin d’en affaiblir ou perturber le pouvoir.
Identifier les points de pression où vous pouvez agir pour en finir avec le statu quo et faire pression pour le changement.
En créant dès maintenant - via une action directe visionnaire et en vivant nos valeurs - le monde futur que nous souhaitons voir, nous pouvons expérimenter par nous-mêmes comment un monde meilleur est non seulement nécessaire mais possible.
L'action directe est risquée par nature. L'objectif consiste à minimiser le risque, de ne pas mettre inutilement (ou unilatéralement) en danger votre sécurité ou celle des personnes autour de vous en voulant « jouer les rambos ».
Avec une image astucieuse, un projecteur puissant et un peu d'audace, vous pouvez littéralement mettre en lumière votre opposition.
Dans le cadre de la Campagne internationale pour interdire les mines antipersonnel, des manifestants ont construit d'énormes pyramides de chaussures pour visualiser le nombre de personnes encore tuées ou blessées par les mines dans des zones de conflit caduques. 196/210
De nombreuses injustices (et de nombreuses toxines !) sont invisibles en raison de la distance, de l'idéologie ou encore de la chimie. On ne peut changer ce qu’on ne voit pas. Ainsi, la première tâche d'un activiste est souvent de rendre visible l'invisible.
Pour saper le pouvoir et encourager la dissidence, l'humour, le rire et l'absurdité sont souvent une recette gagnante, surtout lorsque les puissants règnent par la peur et l'intimidation.
La formation n'est pas une distraction par rapport à la lutte ; au contraire, elle en fait partie en permettant de cultiver trois éléments clés du succès des mouvements sociaux : l'unité, la planification stratégique et la discipline non-violente.
Une fois votre mouvement clairement défini, vous pouvez monter rapidement en puissance en identifiant les ressources dont les gens disposent déjà dans leurs vies quotidiennes pour s’organiser.
Lorsque la répression rend la protestation trop risquée, transformez les gestes du quotidien en contestation — conduire lentement, applaudir, porter du noir ou encore rire — pour ridiculiser les autorités et les mettre devant des choix impossibles.
Des mères célibataires ont fait pression sur un responsable du logement public pour obtenir un centre de garde d'enfants en transformant son bureau en centre de garde d'enfants.
Les campagnes solides sont construites sur une série d'objectifs SMART à court et moyen terme qui fonctionnent comme des étapes intermédiaires vers un objectif de campagne plus ambitieux.
Localiser les alliés et les opposants sur une échelle allant de l'opposition active aux alliés actifs afin d'augmenter votre propre soutien tout en déplaçant le soutien à votre adversaire.
Accrocher une bannière sur un bâtiment ou une structure permet une excellente couverture médiatique, alertant le grand public sur une question ou une campagne. C'est aussi un bon moyen de cadrer ou de contextualiser une action à venir.
Recouper les facteurs internes et externes afin d'identifier des scénarios de campagne possibles.
Un ensemble de jeux et d'exercices théâtraux qui permettent aux gens d'explorer les luttes collectives, d'analyser leur histoire et leurs circonstances actuelles, puis d'expérimenter l'invention d'un nouvel avenir ensemble.
Poser une base solide pour une campagne en travaillant à rebours à partir des objectifs à long terme pour identifier les conditions qui doivent être réunies afin d'atteindre ces objectifs, et comprendre pourquoi.
Il a suffi qu’un seul individu appelle à un avenir meilleur pour que les citoyens du Zimbabwe trouvent le courage de renverser un dictateur impitoyable.
Un long voyage (souvent à pied, bien que parfois à vélo, en bus ou en bateau) vers un centre de pouvoir ou un autre point clé d'intervention, qui rallie des personnes géographiquement dispersées à une cause commune.
Une veillée qui s'appuie sur des éléments artistiques et ritualisés— symbolisme réfléchi, ton approprié et une apparence originale — pour approfondir l'expérience des participants et des observateurs.
As 20,000 people marched across the Brooklyn Bridge at the height of the Occupy Wall Street uprising in 2011, guerrilla-projectionists lit up the skyline with a huge “99% bat signal” light projection.
People are more likely to take your leaflet, read it, and remember what it’s all about if you deliver it with flair. (Or ice cream!)
A key segment of your supporters will only join at peak moments of your campaign — usually in response to an external event — and then disappear again. To win, you must be ready to make the most of this surge.
Bertolt Brecht’s method for using innovative theatrical techniques to “make the familiar strange” in order to provoke a social analysis and a critical response from the audience.
Anger is a powerful emotion. Use it wisely. If you have the moral high ground and act with dignity, anger is compelling and people will join you. If you don’t, you’ll seem a little scary, or even crazy.
Place anonymous suggestion boxes in public places, or online, as a way for civil society to find its voice in areas controlled by armed groups or fearing state reprisals.
Anti-oppression practice provides a framework for constructively addressing and transforming oppressive dynamics as they play out in our organizing.
Don’t worry about being a lousy actor — you’re a great one.
Appropriate a politically neutral phone application to your cause by overwhelming it with campaign messages.
Artivism, the intersection of art and activism, harnesses the critical imagination to design events and strategies that provoke new questions and new meaning in pursuit of more respectful ways of being.
Like brainstorming, but more active, artstorming invites participants to jump directly into the creative process, resulting in better ideas, and often amazing creations.
Organized collectives use networked computers and software to provide communications tools directly to their communities and resist spying, exploitation and control of their data by corporations and the state.
A common political formation shows up across the Arab World: an often marginalized grouping of individuals that the government can call on to momentarily disrupt movements seeking change.
A violent attack on protesters in Tahrir Square by pro-regime, camel-riding thugs was a turning point in the Egyptian revolution, generating popular support for the protesters and leading to the fall of Mubarak.
Fighting for justice can be difficult and dangerous. When we treat each other with kindness and respect — and save our anger for our adversaries — we build the trust and support we need to take risks together.
In 2014, on the one-year anniversary of political violence in Rajganj, Noakhali, Bangladesh, the local community organized a bicycle rally to promote peace.
In December 2008, Tim DeChristopher disrupted an auction of Utah oil and gas drilling leases by bidding, and winning, many parcels. He then used his arrest and trial to make the case for bolder climate action.
The Birthright Unplugged/Replugged project used travel as a subversive act to expose Israel’s unjust restrictions of movement and violations of international law.
A campaign against theft of taxpayer money that engaged Ugandan citizens to fight corruption by exposing and ostracizing government thieves. Members wore black on Mondays.
After Kenya’s post-election violence in 2008, when many young women were sexually abused and traumatized, Boxgirls Kenya used boxing to fight the shaming, stigma, and fear they experienced.
Though the concept of branding has a negative connotation, especially among anti-corporate activists, it can, and indeed should, be used proactively to amplify your message and persuade your target audience.
The Free Fare Movement awakened a generation of Brazilians to the power of mass street action and the utopian possibilities inherent in a popular uprising.
An often overlooked aspect of campaigning is the patient work of building a skilled and committed base of support through the repetition of regular events.
Activities and practices for building individual, small-group, and community resilience, so we can create sustainable, impactful, and thriving groups capable of changing the world for the better.
In 2014, hundreds of students embarked on a 580 kilometre-long march across Myanmar to protest the military-controlled Parliament’s attempt to outlaw student unions.
Taking care of ourselves and having fun in our work for social change are essential to building stronger, more effective, healthier movements.
A protest that is also a wild, celebratory street carnival. Carnivalesque forms of resistance were a key tactic for the global anti-capitalist mass actions of the 1990s.
Like all other unjust and arbitrary systems of authority and power, patriarchy must be actively challenged in our daily lives and organizing work if we are to achieve collective liberation.
Translate complex terms into simple, everyday language, so that people can more easily discuss and confront unjust and oppressive systems.
It’s not just the status quo that needs to change, but the status quo inside our own heads. How can we expect to change the world without also changing how we change the world?
In the final days of a stalled push to reform healthcare in the US, a “citizens’ posse” gathered to arrest those responsible for the gridlock.
A new methodology of civil disobedience, merging the ancient art of clowning with contemporary tactics of nonviolent direct action, which became an international protest phenomenon in the early 2000s.
When it is unsafe to protest or campaign publicly, there are many creative ways to deliver your message without putting yourself at risk — even floating lanterns or ping pong balls.
Money, debt, property rights, and markets are not unchangeable facts, but symbolic systems based in social relationships. Activists should inspire radical hope by exposing that they can and should be changed.
Comunalidad is a way of naming and describing the daily practice of coexistence in an autonomous collectivity, in the service of everyone, as practiced in the indigenous communities of Oaxaca, Mexico.
Cleverly retro-fitting a take-out window, Conflict Kitchen built cross-cultural understanding by introducing Pittsburgh locals to the food and culture of places with which the US government was in conflict.
The two foundational values of consensus decision making, which are more important than the form itself, are empowering every person’s full participation, and respecting and accommodating diverse opinions.
Don’t expect your audience to choose you. Instead, identify the constituencies you need to win your campaign, and strategically design your actions to move them in the right direction.
A series of bold and creative direct action protests, from police station invasions to “wink-ins,” succeeded in pushing back against police persecution of gay men for consensual acts in the UK in the 1980s.
This performance art piece was an ironic reenactment of the practice of displaying indigenous peoples in public venues designed to expose the historic prejudices of the museums in which it appeared.
Large, festive, monthly bike rides in cities around the world, arranged in a spirit of do-it-yourself "organized coincidences," that prefigure future cities in which bicycles actually hold their own as traffic.
Critical multiculturalism disrupts power structures by challenging the subjugation of marginalized cultures, questioning power and privilege, and acknowledging knowledge as a process.
In response to a sweeping new telecommunications law, the CryptoRally was organized as a game played out on the streets of Mexico City, whose goal is to build skills in digital security and freedom of speech.
Money can speak loudly, whether we’d like to admit it or not, so why not turn it into a tool to protest and organize, by stamping messages on local currency, and turning bills into leaflets.
Realizing our collective power to withdraw our willingness to pay debts is potentially as system-shaking today as the power of the industrial working class to withdraw its labour power a century ago.
Inspired by a common struggle against systemic financial exploitation, a debt strike is a coordinated refusal to make monthly debt payments and thereby force the banks to negotiate.
The burden of debt unites millions in common struggle. Together, we can build a movement that challenges not just debt, but the entire capitalist system and its drive to profit from imposed scarcity.
When movements heat up, there’s a tendency to become so extreme that you lose touch with your base. Good leaders will define that “extreme” in constructive ways, and escalate their campaigns strategically.
Things get done only when the task is clearly defined and on someone’s to-do list. Delegate!
Democracy promotion is the term the US uses to describe efforts to penetrate and control emergent civil societies in targeted countries — those with regimes deemed unfriendly or unstable by policymakers.
In 2012, Tunisian anti-corruption campaigners used blogs, flash mobs and lobbying of National Constituent Assembly deputies to enshrine the right to freedom of information in the post-revolution constitution.
In 2014, young activists at Yangon University, Myanmar, creatively disrupted a town hall meeting with President Obama to expose the flaws in the military-dominated government’s political reform process.
A coordinated online effort that brings together vast numbers of people to target a powerful entity’s website by flooding it with high levels of data traffic. A powerful means to draw attention to your cause.
If you look like a stereotypical protester, it’s easy for people to write you off, but if you look like the girl next door, people just might sympathize with you instead.
Concrete actions have measurable goals and are designed to have a direct physical impact. Communicative actions tend to have more symbolic goals. Know the difference and plan accordingly.
Just because an action succeeds once and is a big hit, doesn’t mean that same tactic will succeed again and again. While planning your campaign, employ creative tactics that take your target by surprise.
We want society to be democratic. But to be effective, your small group may need to operate more like the crew of a small ship, with a strict division of roles. That’s OK, because your little group isn’t society.
We can only maintain 150 I-care-you-care relationships. These strong, primary relationships foster empowerment and social cohesion, while more rule-based relationships favor management. This impacts organizing.
In deep belief that there is “no compromise in defense of Mother Earth,” members of this movement put their bodies on the line to stop ecological destruction.
By running for public office as a prank, you can sabotage a particularly ugly policy or candidate, popularize a radical idea, or challenge the limits of the electoral system itself.
Whereas efforts led by commanding leaders are often dependent on that one person’s energy and presence, enabling leaders awaken the creative potential of all participants, helping to grow the broader cause.
A vital tool for activists and organizers — and everyone else — to communicate securely outside the prying eyes of the state and corporate bad actors.
When the state tries to suppress activism through enforced disappearance and assassination, supporters can use murals, shrines, graffiti and other public art to remember the disappeared and call for justice.
Only by looking at environmental issues through a social justice lens can we effectively challenge abuses of power that target indigenous people, people of colour, and other disenfranchised communities.
Stealing (labour, time, ideas, lives) is what large transnational corporations do. Is it not ethical, then, for customers and employees to steal back a few small items to highlight the larger injustice?
Since politics is not just about facts and reason, but also desire and fantasy, activists need to engage in spectacle. By honouring our principles, our spectacles can be ethical, liberating, and reality-based.
Using the #LATE campaign hashtag, revolutionary artists and media activists are reinventing the aesthetic narrative of Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution and situating the commune at its symbolic center.
A need to follow through on crazy ideas, and friends who will goad you on to do so, can take you far. You’re braver than you think!
A Zapatista principle of bottom-up resistance to defend the commons and promote mutual aid in opposition to the self-serving and exploitative logic of capitalism.
A strong show of physical resistance to an unjust eviction.
Feminist social movements identify patriarchal power as a fundamental source of injustice and inequality, and hence call to transform gender power relations in all domains.
A floating signifier is a symbol or concept (for example, the Zapatista balaclava) that's loose enough to mean many things to many people, yet specific enough to galvanize action in a particular direction.
A flotilla — also known as a boat rally or “kayaktivist” blockade — is an innovative way to attract public attention, demonstrate support for a cause or disrupt a marine target.
In 2014, Burmese activists launched the Panzagar (“flower speech”) campaign to counter hate speech in Myanmar in response to a rise in anti-Muslim violence.
In repressive regimes, directly criticizing the authorities can be dangerous. One lower-risk way to challenge the legitimacy of the regime is to focus attention on everyday economic struggles, e.g. high prices.
It is both good ethics and good politics to take direction from, and provide appropriate support to, those who have the most at stake in your cause.
Forum theatre is a tool for exploring and rehearsing possible actions that people can take to transform their world. It’s often used both in preparation to taking action and in anti-oppression workshops.
Whether in our meetings or on our streets, we can advance our struggle for justice by creating safer spaces for everyone, and by challenging the norms and power dynamics that make spaces unsafe for some people.
A decision making process common in large-scale mobilizations that uses “consensus process” to make collective agreements, invite mass participation, and experiment with direct democracy.
When the systems and technologies that mediate our lives “glitch” or malfunction, those marginalized by tech can seize the radical potential of this moment. Theory coined by scholar-activist Legacy Russell.
The Global South is not a place, but a way of talking about a diverse set of struggles: the uprising of the planet’s people against neoliberal policies, at least, and against the capitalist system, at most.
The graffiti drone (droncita) is an unmanned aircraft remotely piloted to spray paint politically subversive messages in hard-to-reach places, first developed in Mexico City.
From posters to graffiti to sky-writing, there are many creative, grassroots ways to "market" your cause. Being both people-powered and unusual, they're usually inexpensive and often attract a lot of attention.
Anthropologist Gabriella Coleman defines a hack as “a clever technical solution arrived at through non-obvious means.” Hacking is more than rogue computer programming; it’s a rebellious solutionary spirit.
At the height of the anti-apartheid struggle, South African freedom fighters and hackers created an encrypted communication network that connected the leadership in exile with operatives in South Africa.
Turning anger into action is necessary, but that anger is most effective when it is disciplined and intelligently focused (hamas). Uncontrolled, stupid anger (hamoq) mostly undermines your own cause.
Organizers can help people shift their understanding of the difficulties they are experiencing from isolated hardships to shared grievances, then carry out successful campaigns to address those grievances.
An innovative cultural campaign that mobilized the huge Harry Potter fan-base to fight for justice, human rights, and democracy in our world, just like Harry did in his world.
Don’t have enough Twitter followers to trend better than your target? Pull the rug out from under them by stealing their hashtag!
In June 2013, citizens began honking their horns outside Lebanon’s Parliament to tell MPs that their time in office had expired. The protest spread until they were honked at everywhere they went.
Social movements run on hope. If you tell a story that resonates, pour your utmost efforts into empowering others to take action, and keep a positive and fun outlook, who says you can’t pull off the impossible?
All human beings are equally entitled to basic rights and freedoms without discrimination. While these rights are universal, human rights frameworks remain incomplete and must be advanced by popular struggle.
An act of activist ventriloquism in which you momentarily assume the mask of power to speak a little lie that tells a greater truth.
A theatre exercise in which participants form statues that represent an oppressive situation, followed by group reflection to better understand the situation and try out possible solutions.
The people destroying the planet don’t just have names and addresses, they also have gatherings. When they gather near you, stop in and see what they’re up to.
An inflatable prop (pneumatic object made of plastic foil, filled with air or helium) with the right symbol can be a great way to frame your action and communicate your message.
The public staging of a realistic scene — say, a same-sex couple discriminated against in a restaurant — that poses an ethical dilemma and engages bystanders, who remain unaware they are part of a performance.
The Janitors’ Union in Washington, D.C. used a series of escalating creative direct actions — dubbed Days of Rage — to win union recognition, wage hikes, and benefits.
Kindness is sometimes harder for the authorities to rebuff than anger. When done with true compassion and some artfulness, a kind gesture can win over the public, and even help to humanize an inhuman situation.
The more you know about the culture and psychology of your community, the more successful your campaign will be.
The first rule of guerrilla warfare is to know your terrain and use it to your advantage. This rule also holds true in the cultural jungle of words, images, memes, and pop songs.
In 2014, after a disheartening election in Zimbabwe, despondent citizens were inspired by motivational posters around Harare to interact with each other via the online social justice site, kubatana.net.
A community organizing framework for designing intentional pathways that guide your supporters from low-effort engagement, at the bottom rung of the ladder, to higher levels of engagement.
Legislative theatre, a tool for proposing and enacting legislative and policy changes at any level of government, takes Augusto Boal’s interactive forum theatre exercises from the stage into the real world.
A method for creating visually-striking, illuminated protest messages (that work particularly well in site-specific, nighttime locations).
To protest the Iraq War, the Lysistrata Project held over 1000 readings in 59 countries of the ancient Greek comedy Lysistrata, which is about how women ended a war by refusing sex until the men quit fighting.
The more the merrier! But if new folks are going to stick around, you’ll need to put work into making sure they feel welcome.
By sharing personal struggles with others in your group and creating space for others to do the same, you can build shared understanding of common challenges that demand political solutions.
Master community organizer Saul Alinsky counsels activists to "Never go outside the expertise of your people" and "Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy."
After the revolution, Tunisian youth combined their wit and passion to demand “no reconciliation without accountability!” and prevent the corrupt business elite from escaping justice.
During Rio+20, the Xavante indigenous people partnered with other organizations mastering a strategic intervention to regain the land that had been promised to them 20 years before.
Don’t expect people to come to you. It’s part of your job as an organizer to understand where people are at — not just politically, but culturally, psychologically, and even physically — and meet them there.
Memes are self-replicating units of cultural information that spread virally from mind to mind, network to network, generation to generation.
Artist Fred Wilson presented a museum’s collection in such a way that it called into question the entire worldview from which the collection was originally assembled.
After a video circulated in 2014 showing the public abuse and harassment of a woman in Harare, Zimbabwe, women organized a miniskirt march to protest widespread street harassment and to push for safe spaces.
A framework that can help organizers identify what they need to be doing right now, by understanding, and thinking strategically about, the life cycle that social movements tend to follow.
Social justice music videos combine the contagious power of music with compelling visuals to expose injustice and inspire potential allies into action.
Neoliberalism, today’s dominant ideology, reduces the state to a handmaiden of transnational capital. In pursuing the relentless privatization of the commons, its policies inevitably spark popular discontent.
Participating in a drum circle is amazing, transformative, and fun. Watching a drum circle, on the other hand, is torture. Don’t ask people to watch you have fun — get them involved!
An opposition party candidate in Zimbabwe’s 2013 elections called for women to withhold sex from their husbands in order to pressure them to vote for change. The results were underwhelming.
A direct action tactic that involves showing up with a “citizens’ search warrant” and attempting, nonviolently, to liberate important documents that are being kept from the public.
Since being naked makes a person both vulnerable and powerful at the same time, nudity can be a potent method of nonviolent resistance. It shows both fearlessness and that, literally, you have nothing to hide.
In 2016 French citizens occupied the Place de la République for three consecutive months to expand democracy and protest attempts by the government to liberalize the labour market.
For two months in 2011, in an open-ended act of defiance against capitalism, citizens occupied a public square on the doorstep of Wall Street, sparking 800 similar occupations and a new revolutionary awakening.
Key to building a diverse coalition is recognizing that we can advance many different “Yesses” (say, family farms, indigenous water rights, lower emissions) by uniting around one big “No” (Stop the Pipeline!).
The Orange Alternative was a 1980s-era underground protest movement in Poland that used street happenings and absurdist provocations to ridicule the Communist regime and promote independent thinking.
Burmese dissidents protested Myanmar’s ruling junta by encouraging supporters to mail panties to foreign embassies and top generals (who superstitiously feared that female underwear sapped their power).
PARK(ing) Day is a worldwide movement to challenge and repurpose urban space by temporarily transforming metered parking spaces into public parks.
An approach to community-based research emphasizing participation, collaboration, and action, which seeks to understand the world by trying to change it.
Unlike representative democracy, which is often a tame affair of choosing between the lesser of two evils, participatory democracy involves masses of people directly transforming their lives and society.
A theory of education by which, according to Paulo Freire, “men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world.”
Crises such as coups, wars, natural disasters, recessions, and pandemics are not just opportunities for the powers that be to impose their will, but for people power to win great victories.
Use the perception box to understand your audiences better, so you can design effective campaign messages to reach them.
To win a campaign, you must first personalize the fight by making a villain the face of the injustice; then polarize public opinion so that people have to take sides: are they with you, or with the villain?
The glass is half full and half empty. We need hard-headed realism and full-hearted idealism to change the world.
Mobilizing the public to call or text a government or corporate target to pressure them into taking an action. It can be a contagious tactic for lobbying decision makers.
When large numbers of people repeatedly dial the key phone lines of your target, you can tie up their service, and pressure them to comply with your demands.
Changemakers need to be ambitious, but not so unrealistically ambitious that we set ourselves up for dismaying failure. Set your sights on goals that are both significant and winnable.
In Brazil, artivists used humorous graffiti to decorate the carts of trash collectors, bringing them visibility and respect, while demonstrating the importance of their contribution to city life.
In a media-saturated world, the audience you care about is rarely the one witnessing your action, but rather the one you’ll reach through mass media and social media. Design your action with them in mind.
Group identity creates a cohesive community for activists, yet tends to foster a subculture that can alienate the public. Balancing these two tendencies is key to sustaining our work and maximizing its impact.
Postcolonial theory forces us to acknowledge that oppression occurs not just in economic relations, but also in the very categories of meaning-making that produce reality as we know, understand, and live it.
A focus on “poverty” relies on a charity framework that can never bring justice. To counter the process of impoverishment requires political action against those who cause and benefit from impoverishment.
To protect against digital surveillance and online attacks, activists should get comfortable with digital security tools and protocols.
Theory without action goes nowhere. Action without reflection is ineffective. That’s why we have praxis: a cycle of theory, action and reflection that helps us analyse our efforts so we can be more effective.
If you're going to challenge an injustice, you need to be ready with your alternative. Never let your opponent score points because you’re caught without a solution to the problem.
The propaganda model suggests that media outlets operating within a capitalist economy will consistently produce news content that aligns with the interests of political and economic elites.
An artwork installed in public space (say, the AIDS Quilt laid out on the Washington Mall, or an unauthorized statue of Edward Snowden put up at night in a city park) that provokes thought and challenges power.
In a public filibuster, a group of people interrupt and seek to shut down a public hearing or government vote by standing and speaking, one after the other. It’s confrontational, but polite and constructive.
In 2009, at the height of the Obamacare fight in the US, a band of creative activists snuck into a major health insurance industry gathering and did a guerrilla musical that got national attention.
Pranks can be cynical, lying, and punch down at the powerless (think James O'Keefe); or they can be joyous, ethical, and punch up at the powerful (think Yes Men). If you’re going to prank, be ethical about it.
Design your action so that your target is forced to make a decision, and all their available options play to your advantage.
In 2012, Québec students managed to reverse a major tuition hike and a draconian anti-protest law through direct democracy, creative tactics, and mass demonstrations involving hundreds of thousands of people.
When challenging a more powerful target, the key to success often isn’t what you do, but how your target reacts to what you do. Therefore, anticipate your target’s response and write it into your script.
We can’t deny that the symbols of one’s nation provide a meaningful feeling of social solidarity. To be effective as change agents, we need to engage, claim, and contest the meanings of these symbols.
The path towards freedom, justice, and wise ecological living may ask us to lean back on our past to recover — and give new meaning to — ways of life that existed before slavery, colonialism, and capitalism.
Reclaim the Streets began as creative activist group in London, but its tactics, blending party and protest, soon spread around the world.
The surest way to win an argument is to redefine the terms of the debate — by highlighting voices, values, and solutions that have been left out of the dominant story.
Faced with a notoriously corrupt traffic police force, chaos on the roads, and many traffic deaths, Bogotá mayor Antanas Mockus disbanded the corrupt cops and offered to retrain and rehire them… as mimes.
Instead of spraying paint, clean away grime to make your “reverse graffiti” message. All you need are stencils, a water pump, and some courage.
Revolutionary nonviolence emphasizes dialogue among radicals of different stripes and seeks to build unity around a shared commitment to revolutionary social transformation via mass civil resistance.
Revolutionary reforms are smaller, more achievable changes that can lay the groundwork for more systemic and lasting change.
In 2012, a movement combining flash mob tactics and traditional Indigenous round dances rose up to defeat a bill that would have eroded Indigenous sovereignty and environmental protections across Canada.
A radical theatre collective dressed in Santa costumes took to the streets of Copenhagen to demonstrate the true meaning of Christmas. Hilarity ensued, and a legend was born.
Using props will not only liven up a boring protest and turn it into something playful, but also help you make your message loud and clear.
To transform a political culture, we must seek out common ground with those we disagree with.
When activists are threatened, it’s important to harness national or international networks that can provide support and deter violence.
Don’t hate the media, become the media is good advice, though as revolutionary contexts like Oaxaca’s 2006 uprising demonstrate, becoming the media might mean occupying, and using, their offices and tools.
A sex strike, sometimes called a sex boycott, is a method of nonviolent resistance in which people refrain from sex with their partner(s) to apply political pressure towards a certain goal.
Fix a problem as best you can in order to pressure authorities to fix it properly.
When you shop-lift, you take something from a store; when you shop-drop, you leave something. The customer thinks it’s a normal item, but hiding inside is a critique of sweatshops or a mind-blowing surprise!
Use metaphor, visuals, and action to show your message rather than falling into preaching, hectoring, or otherwise telling your audience what to think.
Deaf activists in Zimbabwe stood up (and sat-in) to demand access to information in sign language, successfully pressuring the national broadcaster to include sign language interpretation in news broadcasts.
The actions of our peers are more likely to motivate us to act than either information or an appeal to fear. The social cure shows us how to harness this power of social groups for social change.
Modern capitalism upholds social control through "the spectacle" — the use of mass communications to turn us into consumers and passive spectators of our own lives, history, and power.
Creating near-identical websites to those of our targets, but altering them to illustrate our target taking a certain action, such as announcing a new initiative that supports our campaign goals.
Sometimes one person standing in defiance of police repression is enough to galvanize a movement of millions. That’s exactly what happened in Turkey in 2013.
When we exercise message discipline, we stay focused on our core message; create harmony between our words, visuals, and actions; and communicate exactly what we want our audience to know.
The Stolen Beauty boycott campaign targeted the Israeli cosmetics manufacturer Ahava, causing economic damage, a tarnished reputation, and ultimately, a promise to move the factory out of historic Palestine.
Grassroots Jordanian activists mobilized popular opposition against a $15 billion deal with Israel to import natural gas, both before and after the deal was signed.
In response to a draft Israeli bill that aimed to expel 70,000 Palestinian Bedouins from their ancestral land, Palestinians organized a massive campaign that led to the withdrawal of the proposed bill.
Storytelling is far more than telling a tale; it’s a way of organizing reality — and political power. A good story can build group solidarity, develop a shared analysis of a social problem, and up participation.
A framework for broad-based direct action emphasizing openness, accountability, and agreements on "how we want to work together this time," designed to build large, inclusive, diverse, and effective movements.
In 1999 New Yorkers turned the tables on the mayor’s attempt to auction off hundreds of their beloved community gardens by turning the streets themselves into gardens and staging a “festival of resistance.”
Female elders in northern Uganda invoked powerful cultural taboos by removing their clothes in front of two government ministers who were attempting to grab their land, successfully chasing them away.
Subversive travel seeks to defy and subvert unjust travel restrictions. It can be used to facilitate freedom of movement, challenge militarized borders, break a siege, deliver aid, or attract media attention.
In 2005, farm workers in Florida, US, led a nationwide boycott of Taco Bell. They eventually won a historic victory, raising wages and setting an inspiring example for farm worker organizing.
We often think of activist tactics as serving a larger campaign strategy. Instead, it might be more liberating and agile to think of tactics not as a subset of strategy, but as a democratic response to it.
To protest continued harassment and exorbitant illegal charges by tax collectors, taxi drivers and conductors throughout Kampala parked their vehicles and stopped working.
A T.A.Z. is a liberated area “of land, time or imagination” where one can be for something, not just against, and where new ways of being human together can be explored and experimented with.
Sometimes the best response to a powerful enemy is a powerful story.
If the pursuit of perfection is undermining the effectiveness of your action or campaign, then do only what is strategically warranted, and save your sanity and energy.
Timing is key to humour, symbolism, and strategy. The Zapatistas launched their 1994 revolt on the first day of NAFTA. Moments have meaning, movements have stages, and we must strike while the iron is hot.
In 2010, four US immigrant youth leaders walked 1,500 miles to Washington, D.C. to put a human face on the immigration debate and pressure politicians to fix the broken and unjust US immigration system.
Sometimes the most compelling way to expose an injustice is to flip it around and theatrically re-visit it upon the perpetrator (say, by dumping sewage outside the company that's polluting your community).
Your opponent’s prejudices against you are a weakness that you can exploit to your advantage.
The Jedi mind trick worked for Obi-Wan Kenobi, and it can work for you, too. Believe in yourself hard enough, and others will too. “Act like you belong,” and most people — even the police — will assume you do.
So you’ve received a threatening letter from a corporate lawyer. Congratulations!
By taking advantage of unexpected opportunities (say, a gaffe by your opponent) or making creative use of materials lying around (say, turning pots and pans into noisemakers), you can win the day on the cheap.
Rituals like weddings, vigils, and pilgrimages are powerful experiences for participants, and familiar narratives for observers. You can use their symbolic power to give actions greater depth and resonance.
By drawing on the traditional practices, rituals, and symbols of the community, organizers can deepen the involvement of participants, disorient opponents, and shift the cultural terrain in their favour.
By strategically pushing the far edge of what is considered acceptable within a range of policy options, you can slide public opinion in your direction, making what was once fringe, seem like common sense.
Inspired by migratory birds, this is a technique for sustaining activism for the long haul. Rotate roles to share burdens, and allow members to step back from frontline roles without guilt, and you’ll go far.
An action that seeks to draw public attention to a cause or an injustice by making it visible. For example: protesters drop a banner over a highway bridge, or supporters hold up signs in a public square.
In Lebanon in 2015, men were invited to walk a mile in high heels as a way to educate the public around violence against women and to fundraise for women's rights.
Let’s all be leaders. Let’s be leaderful, not leaderless.
Hundreds of international solidarity activists staged a “fly-in” at Ben Gurion airport demanding to visit Palestine in protest of Israel’s racist border policies and de facto siege of historic Palestine.
After Egypt’s 2013 coup, when the only safe way to criticize the regime was to focus on poor economic conditions, ten Egyptian women held up banners with messages like, “Who would accept… such high gas bills?”
On Tax Day in 1998, fair tax campaigners cleverly pranked a GOP media event on the Boston Tea Party Ship Museum, stealing the day’s headlines, and offering a master-class in the tactic of media-jacking.
In 2011, tens of thousands of workers and students filled Wisconsin’s state capitol with a non-stop protest to protest Governor Walker’s attempt to strip civic unions of collective bargaining rights.
Success comes from incorporating the strengths of both mass protests and structure-based organizing — so that outbreaks of widespread revolt complement long-term organizing.
The ethical shoplifting, culture jamming, direct-action movement Yomango turned the impulse to shoplift into a movement and an art form.
Housing rights activists organized this participatory publicity stunt to reframe the housing crisis as a shared problem that would require record-breaking collective action to resolve.
In 2015, in Lebanon, more than 100,000 protesters took to the streets in response to a garbage crisis, triggering a resistance movement that told the corrupt government “You Stink.”
In 1994, university students organized educational brigades to break the information blockade and rumours about the uprising of the Zapatista Army for National Liberation (EZLN).
