A sweeping overview of civil resistance movements around the world that explains what they are, how they work, why they are often effective, and why they can fail.

Civil resistance is a method of conflict for which unarmed civilians use a variety of coordinated methods (strikes, protests, demonstrations, boycotts, and many other tactics) to prosecute a conflict without directly harming or threatening to harm an opponent. Sometimes called nonviolent resistance, unarmed struggle, or nonviolent action, this form of political action is now a mainstay across the globe. Without a thorough understanding of civil resistance and its many dynamics and manifestations, one would be hard-pressed to make sense of the world that we live in today. Civil resistance is an idea whose time has come.

Civil Resistance: What Everyone Needs to Know® explains what civil resistance is, how it works, why it sometimes fails, how violence and repression affect civil resistance movements, and the long-term impacts of civil resistance. Featuring both historical cases of civil resistance and more contemporary examples such as the Arab Awakenings and various ongoing movements in the United States, this book provides a comprehensive and engaging review of the current field of knowledge.