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Jamila Raqib: The secret to effective nonviolent resistance
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We're not going to end violence by telling people that it's morally wrong, says Jamila Raqib, executive director of the Albert Einstein Institution. Instead, we must find alternative ways to conduct conflict that are equally powerful and effective. Raqib promotes nonviolent resistance to people living under tyranny -- and there's a lot more to it than street protests. She shares encouraging examples of creative strategies that have led to change around the world and a message of hope for a future without armed conflict. "The greatest hope for humanity lies not in condemning violence but in making violence obsolete," Raqib says.
Jamila Raqib - Peacemaker
Jamila Raqib works on pragmatic approaches to nonviolent action for activists, human rights organizations, academics and governments globally. Full bio
Jamila Raqib works on pragmatic approaches to nonviolent action for activists, human rights organizations, academics and governments globally. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
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War has been a part of my life
since I can remember.
since I can remember.
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I was born in Afghanistan,
just six months after the Soviets invaded,
just six months after the Soviets invaded,
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and even though I was too young
to understand what was happening,
to understand what was happening,
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I had a deep sense of the suffering
and the fear around me.
and the fear around me.
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Those early experiences had a major impact
on how I now think about war and conflict.
on how I now think about war and conflict.
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I learned that when people
have a fundamental issue at stake,
have a fundamental issue at stake,
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for most of them,
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giving in is not an option.
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For these types conflicts --
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when people's rights are violated,
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when their countries are occupied,
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when they're oppressed and humiliated --
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they need a powerful way
to resist and to fight back.
to resist and to fight back.
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Which means that no matter how destructive
and terrible violence is,
and terrible violence is,
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if people see it as their only choice,
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they will use it.
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Most of us are concerned
with the level of violence in the world.
with the level of violence in the world.
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But we're not going to end war
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by telling people
that violence is morally wrong.
that violence is morally wrong.
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Instead, we must offer them a tool
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that's at least as powerful
and as effective as violence.
and as effective as violence.
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This is the work I do.
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For the past 13 years,
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I've been teaching people
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in some of the most difficult
situations around the world
situations around the world
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how they can use nonviolent
struggle to conduct conflict.
struggle to conduct conflict.
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Most people associate this type of action
with Gandhi and Martin Luther King.
with Gandhi and Martin Luther King.
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But people have been using
nonviolent action for thousands of years.
nonviolent action for thousands of years.
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In fact, most of the rights
that we have today in this country --
that we have today in this country --
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as women,
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as minorities,
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as workers,
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as people of different sexual orientations
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and citizens concerned
with the environment --
with the environment --
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these rights weren't handed to us.
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They were won by people
who fought for them
who fought for them
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and who sacrificed for them.
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But because we haven't learned
from this history,
from this history,
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nonviolent struggle as a technique
is widely misunderstood.
is widely misunderstood.
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I met recently with a group
of Ethiopian activists,
of Ethiopian activists,
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and they told me something
that I hear a lot.
that I hear a lot.
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They said they'd already
tried nonviolent action,
tried nonviolent action,
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and it hadn't worked.
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Years ago they held a protest.
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The government arrested everyone,
and that was the end of that.
and that was the end of that.
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The idea that nonviolent struggle
is equivalent to street protests
is equivalent to street protests
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is a real problem.
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Because although protests can be a great
way to show that people want change,
way to show that people want change,
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on their own, they don't
actually create change --
actually create change --
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at least change that is fundamental.
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(Laughter)
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Powerful opponents are not going to give
people what they want
people what they want
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just because they asked nicely ...
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or even not so nicely.
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(Laughter)
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Nonviolent struggle works
by destroying an opponent,
by destroying an opponent,
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not physically,
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but by identifying the institutions
that an opponent needs to survive,
that an opponent needs to survive,
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and then denying them
those sources of power.
those sources of power.
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Nonviolent activists
can neutralize the military
can neutralize the military
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by causing soldiers to defect.
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They can disrupt the economy
through strikes and boycotts.
through strikes and boycotts.
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And they can challenge
government propaganda
government propaganda
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by creating alternative media.
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There are a variety of methods
that can be used to do this.
that can be used to do this.
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My colleague and mentor, Gene Sharp,
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has identified 198 methods
of nonviolent action.
of nonviolent action.
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And protest is only one.
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Let me give you a recent example.
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Until a few months ago,
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Guatemala was ruled
by corrupt former military officials
by corrupt former military officials
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with ties to organized crime.
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People were generally aware of this,
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but most of them felt powerless
to do anything about it --
to do anything about it --
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until one group of citizens,
just 12 regular people,
just 12 regular people,
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put out a call on Facebook
to their friends
to their friends
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to meet in the central plaza,
holding signs with a message:
holding signs with a message:
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"Renuncia YA" --
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resign already.
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To their surprise,
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30,000 people showed up.
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They stayed there for months
as protests spread throughout the country.
as protests spread throughout the country.
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At one point,
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the organizers delivered hundreds of eggs
to various government buildings
to various government buildings
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with a message:
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"If you don't have the huevos" --
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the balls --
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"to stop corrupt candidates
from running for office,
from running for office,
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you can borrow ours."
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(Laughter)
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(Applause)
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President Molina responded
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by vowing that we would never step down.
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And the activists realized
that they couldn't just keep protesting
that they couldn't just keep protesting
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and ask the president to resign.
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They needed to leave him no choice.
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So they organized a general strike,
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in which people throughout
the country refused to work.
the country refused to work.
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In Guatemala City alone,
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over 400 businesses
and schools shut their doors.
and schools shut their doors.
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Meanwhile,
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farmers throughout the country
blocked major roads.
blocked major roads.
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Within five days,
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the president,
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along with dozens of other
government officials,
government officials,
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resigned already.
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(Applause)
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I've been greatly inspired
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by the creativity and bravery
of people using nonviolent action
of people using nonviolent action
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in nearly every country in the world.
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For example,
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recently a group of activists in Uganda
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released a crate of pigs in the streets.
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You can see here that the police
are confused about what to do with them.
are confused about what to do with them.
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(Laughter)
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The pigs were painted
the color of the ruling party.
the color of the ruling party.
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One pig was even wearing a hat,
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a hat that people recognized.
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(Laughter)
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Activists around the world
are getting better at grabbing headlines,
are getting better at grabbing headlines,
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but these isolated actions do very little
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if they're not part of a larger strategy.
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A general wouldn't march
his troops into battle
his troops into battle
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unless he had a plan to win the war.
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Yet this is how most of the world's
nonviolent movements operate.
nonviolent movements operate.
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Nonviolent struggle is just as complex
as military warfare,
as military warfare,
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if not more.
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Its participants must be well-trained
and have clear objectives,
and have clear objectives,
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and its leaders must have a strategy
of how to achieve those objectives.
of how to achieve those objectives.
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The technique of war has been developed
over thousands of years
over thousands of years
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with massive resources
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and some of our best minds
dedicated to understanding
dedicated to understanding
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and improving how it works.
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Meanwhile, nonviolent struggle
is rarely systematically studied,
is rarely systematically studied,
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and even though the number is growing,
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there are still only a few dozen people
in the world who are teaching it.
in the world who are teaching it.
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This is dangerous,
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because we now know that our old
approaches of dealing with conflict
approaches of dealing with conflict
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are not adequate for the new
challenges that we're facing.
challenges that we're facing.
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The US government recently admitted
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that it's in a stalemate
in its war against ISIS.
in its war against ISIS.
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But what most people don't know
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is that people have stood up to ISIS
using nonviolent action.
using nonviolent action.
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When ISIS captured Mosul in June 2014,
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they announced that they were putting
in place a new public school curriculum,
in place a new public school curriculum,
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based on their own extremist ideology.
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But on the first day of school,
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not a single child showed up.
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Parents simply refused to send them.
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They told journalists they would rather
homeschool their children
homeschool their children
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than to have them brainwashed.
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This is an example
of just one act of defiance
of just one act of defiance
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in just one city.
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But what if it was coordinated
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with the dozens of other acts
of nonviolent resistance
of nonviolent resistance
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that have taken place against ISIS?
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What if the parents' boycott
was part of a larger strategy
was part of a larger strategy
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to identify and cut off the resources
that ISIS needs to function;
that ISIS needs to function;
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the skilled labor needed to produce food;
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the engineers needed
to extract and refine oil;
to extract and refine oil;
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the media infrastructure
and communications networks
and communications networks
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and transportation systems,
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and the local businesses
that ISIS relies on?
that ISIS relies on?
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It may be difficult
to imagine defeating ISIS
to imagine defeating ISIS
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with action that is nonviolent.
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But it's time we challenge
the way we think about conflict
the way we think about conflict
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and the choices we have in facing it.
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Here's an idea worth spreading:
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let's learn more about where
nonviolent action has worked
nonviolent action has worked
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and how we can make it more powerful,
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just like we do with other
systems and technologies
systems and technologies
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that are constantly being refined
to better meet human needs.
to better meet human needs.
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It may be that we can improve
nonviolent action
nonviolent action
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to a point where it is increasingly
used in place of war.
used in place of war.
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Violence as a tool of conflict
could then be abandoned
could then be abandoned
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in the same way that bows and arrows were,
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because we have replaced them
with weapons that are more effective.
with weapons that are more effective.
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With human innovation, we can make
nonviolent struggle more powerful
nonviolent struggle more powerful
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than the newest and latest
technologies of war.
technologies of war.
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The greatest hope for humanity
lies not in condemning violence
lies not in condemning violence
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but in making violence obsolete.
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Thank you.
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(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Jamila Raqib - PeacemakerJamila Raqib works on pragmatic approaches to nonviolent action for activists, human rights organizations, academics and governments globally.
Why you should listen
Jamila Raqib is the executive director of the Albert Einstein Institution, which promotes the study and strategic use of nonviolent action worldwide. Since 2002, she has worked closely with Dr. Gene Sharp, the world's foremost scholar on strategic nonviolent action. Together, they developed a curriculum titled Self-Liberation: A Guide to Strategic Planning for Action to End a Dictatorship or Other Oppression. The publication is intended to provide in-depth guidance for planning a strategic nonviolent struggle.
Raqib represents the Institution at a number of domestic and international forums such as the Oslo Freedom Forum and the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations. Her work centers on presenting a pragmatic approach to nonviolent action to activists, human rights organizations, academics and governments. She travels throughout the world conducting consultations and workshops for individuals and groups seeking to achieve diverse goals such as opposing dictatorship, combatting corruption, attaining political rights, economic justice, environmental protection and women's empowerment.
She holds a B.A. in Management from Simmons College in Boston, MA, and is a Research Affiliate of the Center for International Studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Jamila Raqib | Speaker | TED.com