198 Methods of Nonviolent Action
Gene Sharp, The Methods of Nonviolent Action, Boston 1973
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Noncooperation
The Methods of Nonviolent Protest and Persuasion #
Formal Statements #
- Public speeches
- Letters of opposition or support
- Declarations by organizations and institutions
- Signed public declarations
- Declarations of indictment and intention
- Group or mass petitions
Communications With a Wider Audience #
- Slogans, caricatures, and symbols
- Banners, posters, and displayed communications
- Leaflets, pamphlets, and books
- Newspapers and journals
- Records, radio, and television
- Skywriting and earthwriting
Group Representations #
- Deputations
- Mock awards
- Group lobbying
- Picketing
- Mock elections
Symbolic Public Acts #
- Displays of flags and symbolic colours
- Wearing of symbols
- Prayer and worship
- Delivering symbolic objects
- Protest disrobings
- Destruction of own property
- Symbolic lights
- Displays of portraits
- Paint as protest
- New signs and names
- Symbolic sounds
- Symbolic reclamations
- Rude gestures
Pressures on Individuals #
- "Haunting" officials
- Taunting officials
- Fraternization
- Vigils
Drama and Music #
- Humourous skits and pranks
- Performances of plays and music
- Singing
Processions #
- Marches
- Parades
- Religious processions
- Pilgrimages
- Motorcades
Honouring the Dead #
- Political mourning
- Mock funerals
- Demonstrative funerals
- Homage at burial places
Public Assemblies #
- Assemblies of protest or support
- Protest meetings
- Camouflaged meetings of protest
- Teach-ins
Withdrawal and Renunciation #
- Walk-outs
- Silence
- Renouncing honours
- Turning one's back
The Methods of Social Noncooperation #
Ostracism of Persons #
- Social boycott
- Selective social boycott
- Lysistratic nonaction
- Excommunication
- Interdict
Noncooperation with Social Events, Customs and Institutions #
- Suspension of social and sports activities
- Boycott of social affairs
- Student strike
- Social disobedience
- Withdrawal from social institutions
Withdrawal from the Social System #
- Stay-at-home
- Total personal noncooperation
- "Flight" of workers
- Sanctuary
- Collective disappearance
- Protest emigration (hijrat)
The Methods of Economic Noncooperation: Economic Boycotts #
Action by Consumers #
- Consumers' boycott
- Nonconsumption of boycotted goods
- Policy of austerity
- Rent withholding
- Refusal to rent
- National consumers' boycott
- International consumers' boycott
Action by Workers and Producers #
- Workers' boycott
- Producers' boycott
Action by Middlemen #
- Suppliers' and handlers' boycott
Action by Owners and Management #
- Traders' boycott
- Refusal to let or sell property
- Lockout
- Refusal of industrial assistance
- Merchants' "general strike"
Action by Holders of Financial Resources #
- Withdrawal of bank deposits
- Refusal to pay fees, dues, and assessments
- Refusal to pay debts or interest
- Severance of funds and credit
- Revenue refusal
- Refusal of a government's money
Action by Governments #
- Domestic embargo
- Blacklisting of traders
- International sellers' embargo
- International buyers' embargo
- International trade embargo
The Methods of Economic Noncooperation: The Strike #
Symbolic Strikes #
- Protest strike
- Quickie walkout (lightning strike)
Agricultural Strikes #
- Peasant strike
- Farm workers' strike
Strikes by Special Groups #
- Refusal of impressed labour
- Prisoners' strike
- Craft strike
- Professional strike
Ordinary Industrial Strikes #
- Establishment strike
- Industry strike
- Sympathy strike
Restricted Strikes #
- Detailed strike
- Bumper strike
- Slowdown strike
- Working-to-rule strike
- Reporting "sick" (sick-in)
- Strike by resignation
- Limited strike
- Selective strike
Multi-Industry Strikes #
- Generalised strike
- General strike
Combination of Strikes and Economic Closures #
- Hartal
- Economic shutdown
The Methods of Political Noncooperation #
Rejection of Authority #
- Withholding or withdrawal of allegiance
- Refusal of public support
- Literature and speeches advocating resistance
Citizens' Noncooperation with Government #
- Boycott of legislative bodies
- Boycott of elections
- Boycott of government employment and positions
- Boycott of government departments, agencies, and other bodies
- Withdrawal from governmental educational institutions
- Boycott of government-supported institutions
- Refusal of assistance to enforcement agents
- Removal of own signs and placemarks
- Refusal to accept appointed officials
- Refusal to dissolve existing institutions
Citizens' Alternatives to Obedience #
- Reluctant and slow compliance
- Nonobedience in absence of direct supervision
- Popular nonobedience
- Disguised disobedience
- Refusal of an assemblage or meeting to disperse
- Sitdown
- Noncooperation with conscription and deportation
- Hiding, escape, and false identities
- Civil disobedience of "illegitimate" laws
Action by Government Personnel #
- Selective refusal of assistance by government aides
- Blocking of lines of command and information
- Stalling and obstruction
- General administrative noncooperation
- Judicial noncooperation
- Deliberate inefficiency and selective noncooperation by enforcement agents
- Mutiny
Domestic Governmental Action #
- Quasi-legal evasions and delays
- Noncooperation by constituent governmental units
International Governmental Action #
- Changes in diplomatic and other representation
- Delay and cancellation of diplomatic events
- Withholding of diplomatic recognition
- Severance of diplomatic relations
- Withdrawal from international organisations
- Refusal of membership in international bodies
- Expulsion from international organisations
The Methods of Nonviolent Intervention #
Psychological Intervention #
- Self-exposure to the elements
- The fast
- Fast of moral pressure
- Hunger strike
- Satyagrahic fast
- Reverse trial
- Nonviolent harassment
Physical Intervention #
- Sit-in
- Stand-in
- Ride-in
- Wade-in
- Mill-in
- Pray-in
- Nonviolent raids
- Nonviolent air raids
- Nonviolent invasion
- Nonviolent interjection
- Nonviolent obstruction
- Nonviolent occupation
Social Intervention #
- Establishing new social patterns
- Overloading of facilities
- Stall-in
- Speak-in
- Guerrilla theatre
- Alternative social institutions
- Alternative communication system
Economic Intervention #
- Reverse strike
- Stay-in strike
- Nonviolent land seizure
- Defiance of blockades
- Politically motivated counterfeiting
- Preclusive purchasing
- Seizure of assets
- Dumping
- Selective patronage
- Alternative markets
- Alternative transportation systems
- Alternative economic institutions
Political Intervention #
- Overloading of administrative systems
- Disclosing identities of secret agents
- Seeking imprisonment
- Civil disobedience of "neutral" laws
- Work-on without collaboration
- Dual sovereignty and parallel government