Civil Resistance and Power Politics: The Experience of Non-violent Action from Gandhi to the Present

432 Pages·2009·5.2 MB·English

by  Adam Roberts

CIVIL RESISTANCE AND POWER POLITICS
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Civil Resistance and
Power Politics
The Experience of Non-violent Action
from Gandhi to the Present
Edited by
ADAM ROBERTS
TIMOTHY GARTON ASH
1
3
GreatClarendonStreet,Oxfordox26dp
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Preface
Civilresistancehasbecomeanincreasinglysalientfeatureofinternationalpolitics
overthelasthalf-century,fromtheUScivilrightsmovementandCzechoslovakia
inthe1960stotheso-called‘colourrevolutions’ineasternEuropeandBurma’s
‘moment of the monks’ in the 2000s. We believe that the phenomenon of non-
violentactiondeservesmorestudythanithassofarreceived,andthatitshould
beexaminedinabroadercomparativecontextofinternationalrelations,politics,
andcontemporaryhistory.
Attheheartofthisbookarenineteencasestudiesofmajorhistoricalepisodes
inwhichcivilresistanceplayedanimportantpart.Eachchapteristheworkofan
individual author, with his or her own distinctive approach, style and special
interests. Bibliographical references and all but the most familiar abbreviations
havebeenspeltoutatWrstmentionineverychapter,sothateachcanbereadon
its own. We have, however, gone to considerable lengths, both in the original
design and in the detailed editing of this book, to try to ensure a common
intellectual agenda. Carefullychosen documentary photographs are reproduced
atappropriatepointsineachchapter.Extendedcaptions,writtenbytheeditorsin
close consultation with individual authors, both explain the particular circum-
stancesandhighlighttheillustrations’relevancetolargerthemes.
This is the Wrst major publication of the Oxford University Project on Civil
Resistance and Power Politics. We print below a list of seventeen questions
addressedtocontributorsatthestartoftheproject.Ofcoursenotallarerelevant
to or can be answered in each case, and others have emerged as research has
progressed.Thesequestionsexemplifytheproject’sconcerntoexplore,rigorously
and sceptically, the historical roles played by civil resistance, and to clarify the
relationshipbetweencivilresistanceandotherelementsofpower.Thatrelation-
shipturnsouttobemoremultifacetedthanmanyproponentsofcivilresistance,
orindeedofpowerpolitics,mighthaveexpected.Someoftheseconnectionsare
furtherteasedoutintheeditors’introductoryandconcludingchapters.
A.R.,T.G.A.
Oxford,
March2009
Acknowledgements
FirstandforemostwethankallourcolleaguesontheOxfordUniversityproject
on‘CivilResistanceandPowerPolitics:DomesticandInternationalDimensions’,
which was established in 2006. The project held an international conference at
Oxfordon15–18March2007.Thiswasattendednotonlybyacademicexpertson
particular cases of civil resistance, but also by participants in the campaigns,
journalistsandwriterswhohadreportedonthem,andoYcialswhohadinone
wayoranotherbeeninvolvedinrespondingtothem.
OurdeepestthanksgotoDrThomasRichardDavies,whoservedfromJanuary
2006toMarch2008asResearchAssociateoftheproject,andwhosecontributions
totheproject,fromtheMarch2006workshoptotheMarch2007conference,and
then to this book, were all outstanding. Without his work, which combined
eYciency,deepunderstanding,andhelpfulnesstowardallinvolvedinthisenter-
prise,wecouldnothavereachedtheWnishingtapeofpublicationsosoon.
Wealsooweaspecialdebtofgratitudetoourfellowmembersoftheproject’s
OrganizingCommittee,JudithBrown,PeterCarey,RanaMitter,AlexPravda,and
JanZielonka,allofwhomplayedacentralroleinguidingtheprojectasawhole,
selecting contributors, and subsequently helping to edit the chapters in this
volume.
WeareindebtedtoSirMartinGilbertforpreparingtheendpapermap.Inthe
searchforphotographswehadtalentedassistancefromDanielHemelatOxford
University,andfromSteveYorkandRaganCarpenterofYorkZimmermanInc.,
Washington,DC.WhileeveryeVortwasmadetocontactthecopyrightholdersof
material in this book, in some cases we were unable to do so. If the copyright
holderscontacttheauthororpublisher,wewillbepleasedtorectifyanyomission
attheearliestopportunity.
Ensuring that chapters in a wide-ranging book such as this have elements of
common structure and style, and are clear to non-specialists, is no simple task.
We are grateful to Kate Upshon for some exceptionally judicious subediting; to
Małgorzata Gorska for invaluable assistance in commenting on and revising
several chapters; to Mary-Jane Fox for rigorous comments on the Introduction
and the project as a whole; and, at Oxford University Press, to our editor,
DominicByatt,tomembersoftheeditorialstaV,especiallyLizzySuZing,Louise
Sprake,andAimeeWright;andtothecopy-editor,TomChandler.
Most of the chapters are based on papers presented at the March 2007
conference,whichwerealwaysintendedforpublication.Inthisvolumewehave
includedrevisedtextsofthosepapersthatdealtwithparticularcasesratherthan
withmoregeneralorabstractthemes,andwehaveaddedanewchapter,onthe
eventsinBurmain2007.Wehavealsoincludedthreechapters(theWrsttwoand
thelast)exploringhowcivilresistanceandpowerpoliticsinteract,andsituating
Acknowledgements vii
the themes pursued in this volume in the context of other literature on civil
resistanceandpoliticalchange.
ThechaptershavebeengreatlyenrichedbythecommentsandreXectionsofthe
participants in the conference, and we would especially like to thank for their
contributions theotherconferencespeakers: Peter Ackerman, Alan Angell, Wil-
liam Beinart, Kenneth BloomWeld, Stephen Bosworth, Richard Caplan, Martin
Ceadel, Paul Chaisty, Thomas Richard Davies, Mient Jan Faber, James Fenton,
Lars Frede´n, Carlos Gaspar, David Goldey, Adrian Guelke, Hydajet Hyseni,
Mkhuseli Jack, Konrad Jarausch, Mary Kaldor, Mary King, Monika Mac-
Donagh-Pajerova´, Michael McFaul, Abbas Milani, Grazina Miniotaite, Edward
Mortimer,GhiaNodia,LucyNusseibeh,BhikhuParekh,ChrisPatten,MinxinPei,
Frank Pieke, Srdja Popovic´, Dmytro Potekhin, Bob Purdie, Janusz Reykowski,
Berel Rodal, Zita Seabra, Jacques Semelin, Gene Sharp, Patricio Silva, Jonathan
Steele, Ed de la Torre, Samuel Valenzuela, Wang Juntao, David Washbrook,
Laurence Whitehead, Harris WoVord, Steve York, and Zarni. For the smooth
running of the conference, we are especially grateful to Denise Line of the
European Studies Centre, and to Emily Speers Mears and Małgorzata Gorska,
thegraduatestudentassistants.Fortheirparticipationinthepreparatorywork-
shopfortheconference,wewouldliketothankArshinAdib-Moghaddam,Cath
Collins,RichardCrampton,MichaelFreeden,AlanKnight,TeresaPintoCoelho,
WilliamSmith,MarcStears,andSherrillStroschein.
TheprojectonCivilResistanceandPowerPoliticsisrunundertheauspicesof
the Centre for International Studies in Oxford University’s Department of Pol-
iticsandInternationalRelationsandtheEuropeanStudiesCentreatStAntony’s
College, Oxford: we are very grateful for the support of the Directors of these
institutions, Andrew Hurrell, Neil MacFarlane, and Kalypso Nicola¨ıdis. We also
owe special thanks to Esther Byrom for her handling of numerous research
fundingapplications.
Without the support of a number of generous funders, this book would not
have been possible. We would like to thank particularly: Peter Ackerman and
Berel Rodal at the International Center on Nonviolent ConXict in Washington,
DC; Judy Barsalou, April Hall, Steve Riskin, and Trish Thomson at the United
States Institute of Peace; Markus Baumanns and Michael Go¨ring at the Zeit
Foundation; Kristian Netland at the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign AVairs;
Stephen Heintz and Hope Lyons at the Rockefeller Brothers Fund; Maciek
Hawrylak and JeV Senior at the Canadian Department of Foreign AVairs and
International Trade; Joan Link and Matthew Preston at the British Foreign and
CommonwealthOYce;andtheResearchGrantsstaVoftheBritishAcademy.
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Contents
ListofIllustrations xi
ListofContributors xvi
ListofInitialQuestions xx
1. Introduction 1
AdamRoberts
2. PeoplePowerandProtest:TheLiteratureonCivilResistance
inHistoricalContext 25
AprilCarter
3. GandhiandCivilResistanceinIndia,1917–47:KeyIssues 43
JudithM.Brown
4. TheUSCivilRightsMovement:PowerfromBelowand
Above,1945–70 58
DougMcAdam
5. TheInterplayofNon-violentandViolentActionin
NorthernIreland,1967–72 75
RichardEnglish
6. TheDialecticsofEmpire:SovietLeadersandtheChallenge
ofCivilResistanceinEast-CentralEurope,1968–91 91
MarkKramer
7. CivilResistanceinCzechoslovakia:FromSovietInvasionto
‘VelvetRevolution’,1968–89 110
KieranWilliams
8. Towards‘Self-limitingRevolution’:Poland,1970–89 127
AleksanderSmolar
9. Portugal:‘TheRevolutionoftheCarnations’,1974–75 144
KennethMaxwell
10. MassProtestsintheIranianRevolution,1977–79 162
ErvandAbrahamian
11. ‘PeoplePower’inthePhilippines,1983–86 179
AmadoMendozaJr
12. PoliticalMassMobilizationagainstAuthoritarianRule:
Pinochet’sChile,1983–88 197
CarlosHuneeus