WK 217 Investing in Strategy Building

Learn about the strategic use of nonviolent tactics and the specific example of Otpor! student movement (resistance in Serbia) against the Milosevic regime. Otpor! was a catalyst in unifying the political opposition and it mobilized the Serbian public when Milosevic attempted to steal the elections in October, 2000.

Presenters

• Shaazka Beyerle, International Center on Nonviolent Conflict, USA
• Ivan Marovic, Otpor! student movement, Serbia; See also the Centre for Applied NonViolent Action and Strategies (CANVAS)
  

How can activists harness civilian-based power to fight human rights abuses and change systems that use repression against civilians? Ivan Marovic, veteran of the Otpor! nonviolent student resistance movement against Serbia’s former dictator, Slobodan Milosevic, and Shaazka Beyerle, vice president of the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict, will lead an interactive workshop on how to strategically use nonviolent actions to undermine human rights abusers. Civilian-based power, wielded through the strategic use of nonviolent actions, has succeeded in obtaining human rights, establishing justice, winning democracy and self-determination throughout the past hundred years. Notable victories include the American civil rights movement, the Indian independence movement against British colonial rule, Solidarity in Poland, the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa, and the fall of such authoritarians as Augusto Pinochet in Chile, Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines, Slobodan Milosevic in Serbia, Eduard Shevardnadze in Georgia, and most recently on May 6, Aslan Abashidze, the third-generation ruler of Ajaria, a breakaway province of Georgia. This workshop will systematically examine the key concepts and strategic know-how needed in order to use nonviolent actions to undermine the power and support of institutions and systems committing human rights abuses. An analytical framework will be presented that activists can then apply to their own local situations. Topics include: sources of power, pillars of support, understanding strategy, how to link strategy to tactics and how to effectively choose nonviolent tactics. Practical information and first-hand experiences from Otpor’s nonviolent resistance movement will be shared. The workshop will be participatory. Presentations will be combined with group exercises and facilitated discussion designed to enhance learning and draw upon the expertise of people in the session.