Protesters gather at the Futenma Marine Corps Air Station in Okinawa, Japan. (Photo: Flickr/Creative Commons)
The rise of nonviolent, people power movements around the world has become a defining feature of the 21st century. Organized citizen campaigns and movements using nonviolent methods are challenging formidable opponents: unaccountable governance, systemic corruption, institutionalized discrimination, environmental degradation, dictatorship, foreign military occupation, and violent extremism. Their “weapons” are not guns or bombs but rather protests, boycotts, sit-ins, civil disobedience, building of alternative institutions, and hundreds of other nonviolent tactics. Combined with the use of traditional political and legal means, these movements have and continue to shape political, social and economic change across the globe.
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This course examines the theory, history, and strategy of nonviolent movements. Participants in this course will:
Activists, civil society leaders, scholars, regional experts, policymakers from governments and international organizations, journalists, religious figures, educators/trainers, and those with a keen interest in how ordinary people are transforming conflicts through nonviolent action are encouraged to enroll and join this powerful global conversation.
Note: This is part 1 of the 3-course series.
While everyone's learning style is different, most participants complete this five-chapter, self-paced course in 8-12 hours.
If you'd like to take this course offline, it can be downloaded as PDF files here . Please note: multimedia, interactive elements, and discussion forums are not included in the PDF files. However, you may still earn a certification of completion after passing the final exam, but you will need internet access in order to do so. Follow the prompts at the end of the PDF to complete the final exam and receive your certificate.
