In this ground-breaking and much-needed book, Stellan Vinthagen provides the
first major systematic attempt to develop a theory of nonviolent action since
Gene Sharp's seminal The Politics of Nonviolent Action in 1973.
Employing a rich collection of historical and contemporary social movements from
various parts of the world as examples - from the civil rights movement in
America to anti-Apartheid protestors in South Africa to Gandhi and his followers
in India - and addressing core theoretical issues concerning nonviolent action
in an innovative, penetrating way, he argues for a repertoire of nonviolence
that combines resistance and construction. This repertoire is shown to be both
multidimensional and contradictory, creating