Combining Nonviolent Action and Peacebuilding
How to Apply Dr. Martin Luther King's Approach for Change to Conflicts Abroad
Citizens around the world are using nonviolent action to push for social change. The recent anti-government protests in Iran are just one example, as are movements for peaceful and fair elections in Kenya and Honduras. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and others refined and implemented these nonviolent strategies and tactics during the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, and they can be combined with peacebuilding approaches to transform violent conflict abroad. To commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the U.S. Institute of Peace hosted a series of expert panels on Facebook focused on this combination of peacebuilding and nonviolent action.
The series of discussions focused on the strategic civil resistance and peacebuilding methods used by Dr. King and how they are being successfully applied in various contexts today. Activists like Abdallah Hendawy and Ivan Marovic, who participated in nonviolent action campaigns in Egypt and Serbia, respectively, joined peacebuilding experts to examine how nonviolent tactics like protest and non-cooperation work with peacebuilding practices, such as dialogue and negotiation, to resolve violent conflict and advance positive social change.
Detailed below, each part of the series addressed different aspects of nonviolent action and peacebuilding. Each discussion was held live on Facebook from 11:30am – 12:30pm on January 16, 17, and 18.
Applying Conflict Analysis to Nonviolent Action
Tuesday, January 16, 11:30am – 12:30pm
Panelists
Lisa Schirch
Research Director, Toda Peace Institute and Senior Policy Advisor, Alliance for Peacebuilding
Nadine Bloch
Training Director, Beautiful Trouble
Ivan Marovic
Founder of the Serbian student resistance movement Otpor
Daryn Cambridge, moderator
Senior Program Officer, U.S. Institute of Peace
Using Negotiation in Nonviolent Action
Wednesday, January 17, 11:30am – 12:30pm
Panelists
Sarah Thompson
Former Executive Director, Christian Peacemaker Teams
Maria Stephan
Director, Program on Nonviolent Action, U.S. Institute of Peace
Daryn Cambridge, moderator
Senior Program Officer, U.S. Institute of Peace
Dialogue and Reconciliation in Nonviolent Action
Thursday, January 18, 11:30am – 12:30pm
Panelists
Abdallah Hendawy
Egyptian Activist and Political Commentator
David Jehnsen
Chair and Founding Trustee, Institute for Human Rights and Responsibilities
