In the years since the end of the Cold War many new social movements
have started peacefully, only to adopt a diversity of tactics as they
grew in strength and collective experiences. The last ten years have
revealed more clearly than ever the role of nonviolence. Propped up
by the media, funded by the government, and managed by NGOs,
nonviolent campaigns around the world have helped oppressive regimes
change their masks, and have helped police to limit the growth of
rebellious social movements. Repeatedly losing the debate within the
movements themselves, proponents of nonviolence have increasingly
turned to the mainstream media and to government and institutional
funding to drown out critical voices.
The
Failure of Nonviolence examines most of the major social
upheavals following the Cold War to reveal the limits of nonviolence
and uncover what a diverse, unruly, non-pacified movement can
accomplish. Critical of how a diversity of tactics has functioned so
far, this book discusses how movements for social change can win
ground and open the spaces necessary to plant the seeds of a new
world.