Regional Institute

About the Regional Institute

The Regional Institute on the Study and Practice of Strategic Nonviolent Action in the Americas offers practitioners and academics alike a great opportunity to learn about, and reflect on, ways to achieve social change nonviolently. Join us to learn how strategic nonviolent action can shift the existing balance of power and increase awareness of issues of injustice with the goal of bringing about change. Come and learn from case studies throughout Latin America and the world.

This course is designed to equip activists, scholars, teachers, professionals, and other future peacebuilders from all countries in the Americas with practical tools, knowledge, and hands-on experience to understand the power of nonviolent action to transform the state and society and improve social justice.

The face-to-face courses take place in Quito, Ecuador, on the campus of FLACSO Ecuador and the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador (PUCE). The virtual edition of the courses, “People Power: The Strategic Dynamics of Nonviolent Resistance,” is delivered in an asynchronous format on the International Center for Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC) virtual education platform.

Here you can hear a podcast about the Regional Institute: https://www.mettacenter.org/nonviolenceradio/the-regional-institute-for-the-study-and-practice-of-nonviolent-and-strategic-action-in-the-americas

What is strategic nonviolent action?

Strategic nonviolent action is a powerful way for people to fight for their rights, freedom, justice, and self-determination without resorting to violence.

It can be carried out through tactics such as strikes, boycotts, mass protests and various forms of non-cooperation. As large numbers participate in these actions in a unified, organized, and disciplined way, they disrupt the capacity of their opponents to control events. When a movement sequences its tactics to strategically escalate pressure on its opponent, while remaining resilient and avoiding or withstanding repression, it can impose dramatic costs and force change by undercutting the existing system’s base of support, shifting the loyalties of its defenders and causing bystanders to side with the movement.

Many nonviolent action campaigns and movements have created these dynamics and changed history as a result. Even violent adversaries have been susceptible to nonviolent challenges.

Topics

  • What is strategic nonviolent action?
  • How nonviolent action works
  • Why nonviolent campaigns succeed or fail
  • Nonviolent strategy and tactics
  • Movement and campaign communications and media
  • Case studies of movements and campaigns from Latin America and around the world, including field trip
  • How strategic nonviolent action shapes societies, national, and international affairs

Nonviolence platforms, organizations, and networks