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37-517: The Women's Tax Resistance League (WTRL) was from 1909 to 1918 a direct action group associated with the Women's Freedom League that used tax resistance to protest against the disenfranchisement of women during the British women's suffrage movement. Dora Montefiore proposed the formation of the league in 1897, and it was formally established on 22 October 1909. The league's activities peaked in

74-484: A state of emergency was declared and protests paused after a brutal crackdown was launched against protesters, including doctors and bloggers. Nearly 3,000 people have been arrested, and at least five people died due to torture while in police custody. Protests resumed after lifting emergency law on 1 June, and several large rallies were staged by the opposition parties, including a march on 9 March 2012 attended by over 100,000. Smaller-scale protests and clashes outside of

111-524: A banner from Mount Rushmore , placing President Obama's face next to other historic presidents. The banner read: "History honors leaders. Stop global warming." Human rights activists have used direct action in the campaign to close the School of the Americas (SOA). 245 SOA Watch protestors have collectively spent almost 100 years in prison, and more than 50 people have served probation sentences. In

148-852: A critical role in fifty of sixty-seven transitions from authoritarianism . The " Singing revolution " (1989–1991) in Estonia , Latvia and Lithuania , led to the three Baltic countries ' restoration of independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 . Recently, nonviolent resistance has led to the Rose Revolution in Georgia . Research shows that nonviolent campaigns diffuse spatially. Information on nonviolent resistance in one country could significantly affect nonviolent activism in other countries. Many movements which promote philosophies of nonviolence or pacifism have pragmatically adopted

185-470: A form of direct action. Examples of direct action pranks include the use of stink , critter, and paint bombs. Protestors may pie their targets. The Yes Men practice nonviolent direct action through pranks. Some direct action groups form legal teams, addressing interactions with the law enforcement, judges, and courts. Definitions of what constitutes violent or nonviolent direct action vary. Sociologist Dieter Rucht states that determining if an act

222-643: A militant variant of anarchist ideology, primarily deals with direct action against governments. Insurrectionist anarchists see countries as inherently controlled by the upper classes, and thereby impossible to reform . While the vast majority of anarchists are not militant and do not engage in militant actions, insurrectionists take violent action against the state and other targets. Most insurrectionary anarchists largely reject mass grassroots organizations created by other anarchists, instead calling for coordinated militant action to be taken by decentralized cell networks . Fascism emphasizes direct action, including

259-661: A refusal to work within hierarchical bureaucratic institutions . Direct action protestors may perform activities such as: Some protestors dress in black bloc , wearing black clothing and face coverings to obscure their identities. Ende Gelände protestors wear matching white suits. One of Greenpeace's tactics is to install banners in trees or at symbolic places like offices, statues, nuclear power plants. Direct action protestors may also destroy property through actions such as vandalism , theft , breaking and entering , sabotage , tree spiking , arson , bombing , ecotage , or eco-terrorism . Pranks may also be considered

296-453: A similar percentage believed defacing art or public monuments should be criminalized. The question of engaging in radical protest is known as the "activist's dilemma": "activists must choose between moderate actions that are largely ignored and more extreme actions that succeed in gaining attention, but may be counterproductive to their aims as they tend to make people think less of the protesters." Passive resistance Mahatma Gandhi

333-704: A tool of both owners and workers, and for this reason he included lockouts and cartels , as well as strikes and sabotage . Canadian anarchist Ann Hansen , one of the Squamish Five , wrote in her book Direct Action that "the essence of direct action [...] is people fighting for themselves, rejecting those who claim to represent their true interests, whether they be revolutionaries or government officials". Activist trainer and author Daniel Hunter states 'Nonviolent direct action are techniques outside of institutionalized behavior for waging conflict using methods of protest, noncooperation, and intervention without

370-587: Is harm directed toward living things. American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. , who used direct action tactics such as boycotts and sit-ins , felt that the goal of nonviolent direct action was to "create such a crisis and foster such a tension" as to demand a response. Mahatma Gandhi 's methods, which he called satyagraha , did not involve confrontation and could be described as "removal of support" without breaking laws besides those explicitly targeted. Examples of targeted laws include

407-499: Is not known when the term direct action first appeared. Spanish philosopher José Ortega y Gasset wrote that the term and concept of direct action originated in fin de siècle France. The Industrial Workers of the World union first mentioned the term "direct action" in a publication about the 1910 Chicago strike . American anarchist Voltairine de Cleyre wrote the essay "Direct Action" in 1912, offering historical examples such as

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444-671: Is the most popular figure related to this type of protest; United Nations celebrates Gandhi's birthday, October 2, as the International Day of Non-Violence . Other prominent advocates include Abdul Ghaffar Khan , Henry David Thoreau , Etienne de la Boétie , Charles Stewart Parnell , Te Whiti o Rongomai , Tohu Kākahi , Leo Tolstoy , Alice Paul , Martin Luther King Jr. , Daniel Berrigan , Philip Berrigan , James Bevel , Václav Havel , Andrei Sakharov , Lech Wałęsa , Gene Sharp , Nelson Mandela , Jose Rizal , and many others. From 1966 to 1999, nonviolent civic resistance played

481-552: Is to either obstruct a certain practice (such as a government's laws or actions) or to solve perceived problems (such as social inequality). Direct action may include activities, often nonviolent but possibly violent, targeting people, groups, institutions, actions, or property that its participants deem objectionable. Nonviolent direct action may include civil disobedience , sit-ins , strikes , and counter-economics . Violent direct action may include political violence , assault , arson , sabotage , and property destruction . It

518-481: Is violent falls along a spectrum or gradient—lesser property damage is not violence, injuries to humans are violent, and acts in between could be labelled either way depending on the circumstances. Rucht states that definitions of "violence" vary widely, and cultural perspectives can also color such labels. American political scientist Gene Sharp defined nonviolent direct action as "those methods of protest, resistance, and intervention without physical violence in which

555-605: The Boston Tea Party and the American anti-slavery movement , and writing that "direct action has always been used, and has the historical sanction of the very people now reprobating it." In his 1920 book Direct Action , William Mellor categorized direct action with the struggle between worker and employer for economic control. Mellor defined it "as the use of some form of economic power for securing of ends desired by those who possess that power." He considered it

592-687: The Jeans Revolution in Belarus, the fight of the Cuban dissidents , and internationally the Extinction Rebellion and School Strike for Climate . Although nonviolent movements can maintain broader public legitimacy by refraining from violence, some segments of society may perceive protest movements as being more violent than they really are when they disagree with the social goals of the movement. A great deal of work has addressed

629-778: The United States came to adopt some of the same techniques. Anna Howard Shaw said "I hold it is unfair to the women of this country to have taxation without representation, and I have urged [members of the National Woman Suffrage Association ] to adopt a course of passive resistance like the Quakers instead of aggressive resistance. I say to the Government, 'you may pick my pocket because you are stronger than I, but I'm not going to turn my pockets wrongside out for you.' ... I believe that

666-669: The salt tax and the Asiatic Registration Act . His preferred actions were largely symbolic and peaceful, and included "withdrawing membership, participation or attendance in government-operated [...] agencies." Gandhi and American civil rights leader James Bevel were strongly influenced by Leo Tolstoy 's 1894 book The Kingdom of God Is Within You , which promotes passive resistance . Other terms for nonviolent direct action include civil resistance , people power , and positive action . Insurrectionary anarchism ,

703-530: The "Siege of Montefiore" in 1906: The house, surrounded by a wall, could be reached only through an arched doorway, which Montefiore and her maid barred against the bailiffs. For six weeks, Montefiore resisted payment of her taxes, addressing the frequent crowds through the upper windows of the house. Elizabeth Wilks , who was the treasurer of the league, refused to pay her tax in 1908. Married women were not required to pay tax in Britain at that time. According to

740-555: The First World War, despite a general suspension of militancy." League member and author Beatrice Harraden said in 1913: The least any woman can do is to refuse to pay taxes, especially the tax on actually earned income. This is certainly the most logical phase of the fight for suffrage. It is a culmination of the Government's injustice and stupidity to ask that we pay an income tax on income earned by brains, when they are refusing to consider us eligible to vote. The league

777-639: The House of Lords where it was realised that the law was unfair, British law did not get amended until 1972. Among the members or those who had to have their goods auctioned to pay overdue taxes, were as follows Others included: Dr Garrett Anderson, the Misses Collier, the Misses Dawes Thompson, Mrs. Hartley, Mrs Merivale Mayer, Mrs. Milligan, Miss Raleigh, Mrs. Vaughan and Miss Green, Mrs. Bormann Wells. The women's suffrage movement in

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814-610: The United States, direct action is increasingly used to oppose the fossil fuel industry, oil drilling , pipelines, and gas power plant projects. Direct action was taken at arms factories in the United States and the United Kingdom that supplied arms to Israel during the Israel–Hamas war . Anarchists organize almost exclusively through direct action, which they use due to a rejection of party politics and

851-406: The capital have continued to occur almost daily. More than 80 people had died since the start of the uprising. Nonviolent resistance is often but wrongly taken as synonymous with civil disobedience . Each of these terms—nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience—has different connotations and commitments. Berel Lang argues against the conflation of nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience on

888-673: The factors that lead to violent mobilization, but less attention has been paid to understanding why disputes become violent or nonviolent, comparing these two as strategic choices relative to conventional politics. In 2010, A "White Intifada" took hold in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Activities included weekly peaceful protests by Palestinian activists accompanied by Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem and Israeli academics and students against settlers and security forces. The EU, through its foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton has criticised Israel for convicting an organiser of

925-415: The grounds that the necessary conditions for an act instancing civil disobedience are: (1) that the act violates the law, (2) that the act is performed intentionally, and (3) that the actor anticipates and willingly accepts punitive measures made on the part of the state against him in retaliation for the act. Since acts of nonviolent political resistance need not satisfy any of these criteria, Lang argues that

962-457: The law, the joint income of a couple was added together and the husband paid the tax. However, Elizabeth, who earned more than her husband, refused to tell her husband, Mark Wilks, how much she earned. This put the authorities into a quandary, as Elizabeth was not liable to pay tax and her husband said he was willing to pay the tax but had no idea how much to pay. In 1910, the authorities illegally seized some of Elizabeth's goods in an attempt to levy

999-562: The legitimization of political violence , as a core part of its politics. While radical activism has been effective as part of the civil rights movement , forceful or violent environmental sabotage (FVES) can have a "negative impact on voter attitudes toward all environmental organizations", though that effect is contingent on the organizations' prior record. In polls conducted in the United Kingdom , two thirds of respondents supported non-violent environmental direct action, while

1036-428: The members of the nonviolent group do, or refuse to do, certain things." American anarchist Voltairine de Cleyre wrote that violent direct action utilizes physical, injurious force against people or, occasionally, property. Some activist groups, such as Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front , use property destruction, arson, and sabotage and claim their acts are nonviolent as they believe that violence

1073-589: The methods of nonviolent action as an effective way to achieve social or political goals. They employ nonviolent resistance tactics such as: information warfare , picketing , marches , vigils , leafletting, samizdat , magnitizdat , satyagraha , protest art , protest music and poetry, community education and consciousness raising , lobbying , tax resistance , civil disobedience , boycotts or sanctions , legal/diplomatic wrestling, Underground Railroads , principled refusal of awards/honors, and general strikes . Current nonviolent resistance movements include:

1110-408: The peaceful movement and said that she was deeply concerned about the arrest of Abdullah Abu Rahmeh. There have been two fatalities among protesters and an American peace activist suffered brain damage after being hit by a tear gas canister. On 14 March, Saudi -led GCC forces were requested by the government and entered the country, which the opposition called an "occupation". The following day,

1147-659: The spirit of ' no taxation without representation ' that resulted in the Revolutionary War is inherent and just as actual in the women of the country as it was then in the men of the country." The archives of the Women's Tax Resistance League are held at The Women's Library at London Metropolitan University , ref 2WTR Direct action Direct action is a term for economic and political behavior in which participants use agency—for example economic or physical power—to achieve their goals. The aim of direct action

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1184-565: The tax on her income. The authorities then tried to claim the tax as coming either from both Wilkses or from Mark Wilks alone. This was legally unsatisfactory, as Mark Wilks was being asked for tax on an income of about £600 per annum that he was nominally unaware of. Subsequently, 3,000 teachers signed a petition when Mark Wilks was placed in Brixton prison , and there was a demonstration in Trafalgar Square to protest his treatment. He

1221-502: The two categories of action cannot be identified with one another. Furthermore, civil disobedience is a form of political action which necessarily aims at reform, rather than revolution. Its efforts are typically directed at the disputing of particular laws or groups of laws while conceding the authority of the government responsible for them. In contrast, political acts of nonviolent resistance can have revolutionary ends. According to Lang, civil disobedience need not be nonviolent, although

1258-564: The use or threat of injurious force. Anti-globalization activists forced the Seattle WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999 to end early via direct action tactics and prefigurative politics . On April 28, 2009, Greenpeace activists, including Phil Radford , scaled a crane across the street from the Department of State , calling on world leaders to address climate change. Soon thereafter, they dropped

1295-608: The years before the First World War but were largely deflated in 1914 by the onset of that war, when the league membership passed a resolution to temporarily suspend their tax resistance. Members saw themselves in a tradition of British tax resistance that included John Hampden . According to one source: "Tax resistance proved to be the longest-lived form of militancy, and the most difficult to prosecute. More than 220 women, mostly middle-class, participated in tax resistance between 1906 and 1918, some continuing to resist through

1332-406: Was formed three years ago with the slogan: "No vote, no tax". It is non-partisan—an association of constitutional and militant suffragists, recruited from various suffrage societies for the purpose of resisting taxes. In several cases, the government seized and sold at auction items owned by the resisters. The League used these occasions as opportunities for demonstrations and publicity, for instance

1369-403: Was released after a fortnight to celebrations from the supporters of the Women's Tax Resistance League, which included George Bernard Shaw . When tax resistance members had goods seized and auctioned to pay back taxes, processions from the auction house and celebrations took place with other supporters, with public speeches from decorated carriages, to explain their protest. Despite a debate in

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