A Force More Powerful

This nationally-acclaimed book shows how popular movements used nonviolent action to overthrow dictators, obstruct military invaders and secure human rights in country after country, over the past century. Peter Ackerman and Jack DuVall depict how nonviolent sanctions--such as protests, strikes and boycotts--separate brutal regimes from their means of control. They tell inside stories--how Danes outmaneuvered the Nazis, Solidarity defeated Polish communism, and mass action removed a Chilean dictator--and also how nonviolent power is changing the world today, from Burma to Serbia.

Praise

“A Force More Powerful challenges a longstanding myth that lies at the heart of much of the turmoil of the 20th century: that power comes from the barrel of a gun; based on convincing detail, Ackerman and Duvall dare to claim that nonviolent movements lead to more secure democracies.” —Christian Science Monitor

“A skillful blend of sweeping narrative and tightly focused case studies, the book fills a vacuum in historical studies of the 20th century.” —Philadelphia Inquirer

“This throughly researched and highly readable book underlines the contrast between stable democratic societies created by nonviolent movements and tyrannical regimes born of violent revolution. Recommended...” —Library Journal

“...this book is an important documentation of non-violence as an attested historical force.” —The Times Higher Education Supplement

About the Author(s)

By Peter Ackerman and Jack DuVall

Peter Ackerman holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

Jack Duvall is President of the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict.

Table of Contents

Part I: Movement to Power * Russia, 1905: The People Strike * India: Movement for Self-Rule * Poland: Power from Solidarity * Part II: Resistance to Terror * The Ruhrkampf, 1923: Resisting Invaders * Denmark, the Netherlands, the Rosenstrasse: Resisting the Nazis * El Salvador, 1944: Removing the General * Argentina and Chile: Resisting Repression * Part III: Campaigns for Rights * The American South: Campaign for Civil Rights * South Africa: Campaign Against Apartheid * The Philippines: Restoring Democracy * The Intifada: Campaign for a Homeland * China, Eastern Europe, Mongolia: The Democratic Tide * Part IV: Violence and Power * The Mythology of Violence * The New World of Power * Victory without Violence