In the yard behind Christian Peacemaker Teams' headquarters in Chicago, trainees stage a realistic role-playing exercise to prepare for nonviolent accompaniment work in Hebron. Photo cc: delayed gratification.

The goal of training in nonviolent conflict is to prepare activists and supporters politically, physically, and psychologically to wage powerful campaigns and actions. Here are nine ways nonviolent action workshops help individuals hone their skills and nurture the courage and resilience they need to withstand the pressures of unarmed struggle.

1. Build trust. A more combative spirit often rewards strong group cohesion. Training sessions for nonviolent action are designed so people who weren't initially connected can start building collective strength among themselves. There is time for people to get to know each other and share ideas and emotions. When feelings of fear, anticipation, enthusiasm are expressed, common bonds form, and trust is built.

2. Examine consequences. Training in nonviolent struggle allows potential participants to explore the likely repercussions of an action or campaign in a safe environment, a few steps removed from the stress and chaos of real-life resistance. Potential repercussions and legal consequences are considered ahead of time. Knowing what to expect and armed with better knowledge of the risks involved, training participants can decide whether and how to join an action in a clear-headed space.

3. Rehearse tactics. Workshops focus on the modalities, spirit, and specific details of the action. Topics include: logistics, what to bring, how to react, body posture, physical protection, etc. A review of the campaign design and organizational history helps put the political moment in perspective. Roleplays are the mainstay of most tactical nonviolent action trainings, and for good reason. Next to the real thing, roleplays provide the best way to physically experience what the action will feel like. Roleplays also allow folks to gain invaluable insights into the potential behaviour of the authorities, the police, and other people in and around the action.

4. Practice media skills. Many workshops give basic training on how to deal with the media. Through media interview roleplays, coupled with debriefings to unearth useful tips, individual activists come out better equipped to explain their actions, answer questions, articulate their message, and let their true convictions shine.

5. Reduce fear. To counter fear, it helps greatly if you know what to expect (probable risks) and the extreme lengths to which the opponent could go (potential risks). While this is not the time for unbriddled paranoia, people should be prepared for the harshest — yet realistic — scenario. The most responsible training philosophy is therefore to "prepare for the worst, and hope for the best". Training works to lessen the fear by taking away the surprise element of nasty repression tactics. Deprived of the startle effect, repressive violence looses much of its edge. Group solidarity, practical advice and tactical planning also help understand and control the fear.

6. Agree to common guidelines. Common parameters of action are reviewed as part of the training. The main benefit of action guidelines is that you know what to expect from fellow demonstrators. You can act secure in the knowledge that everyone has taken the time to consider, and agree to, the same collective action framework — that other people won't come in and provoke the police beyond the agreed-upon scenario.

7. Allow different roles. The best campaigns are those that offer various tactics for a range of people and organizations, based on a measure of risk they are willing to take. Training allows tactical flexibility based on these specific roles and levels of commitment. Support roles are valued just as much as public resistance roles, working together as part of mutual assistance systems.

8. Address diversity and raise self-awareness. Training allows a space to work on issues of internalized oppression and privilege in group dynamics. Specific and common experiences of domination and oppression, class, race, gender and other rank/status differences can be explored and adressed, revealing intricate webs of power differences. Some training designs also allow people to examine and overcome their limiting beliefs, enabling collective and individual growth beyond prior limitations.

9. Promote resilience. One of the chief benefits of training in the technique of nonviolent struggle is to maintain mobilisation once repression hits. For example, participants can plan tactics to maintain solidarity after an arrest has occured. Even while in detention, limited collective action for specific solidarity gains can be planned, to lift bail requirements, for instance. Nonviolence training helps understand repression as a phase that may be both necessary, and temporary. It entices people to commit beyond the action, to grow stronger, wiser activists.

Philippe Duhamel, interTactica.org

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