o livro de gene sharp deixa muito a desejar, por seu tom genérico, vazio e irrefletidamente pró-democrático (mencionando o butão e a china no mesmo saco de países não-livres, por exemplo). mas levanta pontos interessantes e diz ter sido influente / ter inspirado muitas pessoas. afinal, é um manual/relatório: talvez seja preciso consultar na einstein foundation o livro mais especificamente sobre teoria e prática da ação não-violenta (ainda não li).

"Ao depositar a confiança nos meios violentos, escolhe-se exatamente o tipo de luta em que os opressores, quase sempre têm a superioridade. Os ditadores estão equipados para aplicar violência esmagadora. Não importa quão longa ou brevemente esses democratas possam continuar, eventualmente, as duras realidades militares tornam-se inevitáveis. Os ditadores têm quase sempre superioridade em equipamento militar, munições, transportes, e tamanho das forças militares. Apesar da bravura, os democratas não são(quase sempre) páreo para eles."

{trad. a. s. filardo, the albert einstein foundation, p.9}

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Finally finished this after a several year journey - I first picked this up after reading 'This is An Uprising' after Trump's election. Here are a few things that I, as someone who is not involved in community organizing, was able to take from this (and there would have been much more had I been an organizer!):

- the idea that the power of a leader or a system comes from the people & institutions within it, which I think is often referred to as the 'pillars of support' model
- the idea that nonviolent struggle is often helpful against dictators because dictators are really good at violent struggle, and the larger idea of "pick your battles"
- the importance of a positive strategy - aiming at a new order, instead of just toppling the old one - and then the guts and judgement to stick to it until it doesn't work anymore

There's a lot of more practical advice that I would find helpful if I was building a movement, but so far as I have been participating in activism it has largely been as a metaphorical foot soldier. I did think about some of these things while trying to effect change in my workplace but I found it difficult. Maybe I should have thought harder? ( )

This is an actual handbook on nonviolent resistance, which on the one hand makes it incredibly intriguing but on the other makes it rather boring, since it reads somewhat like an instruction manual. I presumed when I heard about the book that Sharp would include many references to real-life struggles in order to illustrate his points, but he rarely did this even though the book would have benefitted from more concrete examples. The last few chapters were more interesting as he discussed the planning and implementation of specific strategy, but overall the book is geared more toward people who are planning to utilize the information in their countries, and not toward those of us who are simply interested in the phenomenon.

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Sharp is a modern day combination of Gandhi and Machiavelli. While not a strict pacifist, Sharp makes the point that by picking up the gun, you have chosen to fight on the dictator’s terms. Totalitarian regimes can usually muster much greater firepower than their subjects. Rifles against tanks is not a good idea, if it can be avoided.
Sharp catalogs numerous forms of creative resistance, not just gather in the square and be shot down. The utility of his ideas was demonstrated in Serbia and in the Arab Spring.
Egypt was a prime example of the successful use of such mostly non-violent tactics. And Syria shows what happens when the dictator is willing and able to use his armor and air force.
This is an important book, but rather dry. For a much more readable exposition of Sharp’s ideas, with plenty of anecdotes, read The Dictator’s Learning Curve. There is also an excellent documentary on DVD, How to Start a Revolution.
For the importance of having at least the neutrality of the armed forces, read Katharine Chorley’s Armies and the Art of Revolution. If you ARE the armed forces, Luttwak’s Coup d’État: a Practical Handbook is essential reading. ( )

En fantastisk lille bog, der kan være udgangspunkt for mange nødvendige ikke-voldelige revolutioner - i alle lande og inden for mange sektorer, kulturer, organisationer etc. Den er ikke fantastisk skrevet - men substansen og dens fokus på det for alle mulige (metodelisten) er virkelig god. Der findes store og der findes små revolutioner - og bogen er et godt sted at starte hvis man lever i samfund hvor demokratiet enten ikke eksisterer, er truet eller kan forbedres. Det er ikke en mirakelbog og foregiver ikke at være det - men substansens potentiale er umulig at forhindre: det frit tænkende og frit handlende demokratisk levende individ. ( )