Point a Spotlight: Raise public awareness about an institution, program or injustice. Bring hidden wrongs to light. Example: Campaigns against WTO, IMF/World Bank; genetically engineered foods.
Delegitimize Organizations, Institutions and Programs: Withdraw consent from the functioning of unjust bodies, laws, programs. Interfere with their operations. Raise their social costs. Examples: U.S. Civil Rights Movement, antinuclear activism, etc.
Build a Movement: Provide opportunities for people to engage in action, experience solidarity and support, take greater risks, deepen commitment. Examples: almost any powerful action.
Educate and Inform: Both those in the movement and those who hear of actions: Almost every good action.
Strengthen Voices of Reform: It may not be our intention or goal, but when thousands of people are out in the streets, institutions are more likely to listen to "respectable" critics within. Examples: calls for more "transparency" within WTO and World Bank; de facto legalization of needle exchange in SF.
The Two Main Ways Direct Action Works:
Interfering with the operations of injustice: examples: WTO blockade, burning draft cards, stopping troop trains, pulling up genetically modified crops
Embodying an alternative: Address a problem legally or illegally: Examples: Squats, Needle Exchange programs, feeding the homeless.
Nonviolence in Direct Action Campaigns Is About:
Vision: We embody the world we want to create, we use means consistent with our ends. We engage in imaginative action. We expect to win.
Choices: We do not let structures of force limit our choices. We expand the choices of our opponents.
Patterns: We understand the patterns of violence and control so we can make choices about our responses. We learn how to de-escalate tension and potential conflict in order to expand our range of choices in any situation.
Communication: We communicate with each other, with our potential allies and with our opposition, and develop our communication skills.
Energy: We look at situations energetically and learn skills for shifting and directing energy.
Inclusiveness: We focus on expanding our movement and increasing opportunities for people of diverse needs and awareness to take part. We resolve our internal conflicts through discussion and negotiation.
Respect for diversity: We respect our own differences, needs, cultures, life circumstances, politics and views as well as differences of gender, race, sexual orientation, age, physical challenges, etc.
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