It\u2019s odd that I haven\u2019t read Gene Sharp\u2019s work until now. I\u2019ve known about him for years, and I\u2019ve been aware of his ideas at sec\u00adond hand. He has been pre\u00adoc\u00adcu\u00adpied with the issue of how peo\u00adple can resist or over\u00adthrow dic\u00adta\u00adtor\u00adships for longer than I have (and that\u2019s say\u00ading quite a bit). His ideas are fair\u00adly close to my own, and come from sim\u00adi\u00adlar influ\u00adences. So I\u2019m embar\u00adrassed to say that I have neglect\u00aded read\u00ading his works, an error that I will hasti\u00adly correct.<\/p>\n
Unlike most aca\u00add\u00ade\u00admics, Sharp has a com\u00admon-sense grasp of what is pos\u00adsi\u00adble and what is not, what is rel\u00ade\u00advant and what is not, and what works and what does not. This short work, which he keeps in the pub\u00adlic domain and encour\u00adages to be trans\u00adlat\u00aded, is an extreme\u00adly use\u00adful vade\u00adme\u00adcum for those who want to over\u00adthrow dic\u00adta\u00adtor\u00adships. He urges the use of what he calls \u201cPolit\u00adi\u00adcal Defi\u00adance\u201d, a strate\u00adgic form of planned non-vio\u00adlent resis\u00adtance. As he points out, over-reliance on vio\u00adlence, rather than on more sophis\u00adti\u00adcat\u00aded tech\u00adniques of resis\u00adtance, does not have a good record of suc\u00adcess. This doc\u00adu\u00adment has influ\u00adenced democ\u00adra\u00adcy advo\u00adcates in a num\u00adber of quar\u00adters. I strong\u00adly rec\u00adom\u00admend it.<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s odd that I haven\u2019t read Gene Sharp\u2019s work until now. I\u2019ve known about him for years, and I\u2019ve been aware of his ideas at sec\u00adond hand. He has been pre\u00adoc\u00adcu\u00adpied with the issue of how peo\u00adple can resist or \u2026<\/p>\n