Non-Violent Resistance Campaigns: A Temporal Examination

• In Event: Protest in Global Perspective

Abstract

Are nonviolent resistance campaigns temporally durable? This paper extends on nonviolent resistance literature, arguing that while such campaigns do achieve in the moment success in terms of campaign objective achievement, NVRCs do not sustain long-term success. Specifically, if a campaign utilizes nonviolent resistance means and encounters state-sponsored repression, whatever success it achieves in the moment, will not last in the long-term. This paper explores this theory through a mixed-method approach, utilizing both comparative case analysis and statistical analysis. Through analyzing Lebanon and Nepal’s NVRCs in 2005 and 2006 respectively, I find that both campaigns did not sustain long-term success and even had increased protest activity later on, with similar if not identical grievances protested ten years post-initial campaign success. Future iterations will explore the degree to which repression will affect long-term NVRC success, expand the scope coverage, and consider spatial element effects.

Author

• Naela Elmore, University of Texas at Dallas