Chapter Three AN ACTIVE TECHNIQUE OF STRUGGLE
A simple insight
Nonviolent action, or nonviolent struggle, is a technique of ac- tion by which the population can restrict and sever the sources of power of their rulers or other oppressors and mobilize their own power potential into effective power. This technique is based on the understanding of political power presented in the previous chapter.
That understanding showed that the power of rulers and of hi- erarchical systems, no matter how dictatorial, depends directly on the obedience and cooperation of the population. Such obedience and cooperation, in turn, depend on the willingness of the popu- lation and a multitude of assistants to consent by their actions or inaction to support the rulers. People may obey and cooperate because they positively approve of the rulers or their orders, or they may obey and cooperate because they are intimidated into submission by the fear of punishment. Weiterlesen »
