haagen_daz reviewed From dictatorship to democracy by Gene Sharp
Review of 'From dictatorship to democracy' on 'GoodReads'
3 stars
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 …
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?