In Resistance is NOT Futile: Exploring Philosophical and Social Science Theories of Civil Resistance, Daniel Petz provides the starting base to understand the importance of civil resistance in our current world. He delves into the philosophical roots and the debates that have shaped modern forms of civil resistance and links them with the latest insights in civil resistance studies. He then discusses a broad number of topics linked to civil resistance including questions of legitimate authority and civil disobedience, the boundaries of violence and nonviolence, methods of civil resistance, maximalist, reformist, and systemic nonviolence, Global South and Majority perspectives on civil resistance, nonviolent defense, right-wing use of nonviolence, and the escalating struggle of the climate movement.
A valuable resource written for both scholars and students in philosophy and social sciences in mind, Resistance is NOT Futile aims at bridging the disciplinary gap that exists between these fields. The book should also be of interest to activists who wish to deepen their understanding of scholarly debates on civil resistance, as well as the general public interested in the historical, philosophical, and political dimensions of civil resistance.
Resistance is NOT Futile provides the starting base to understand the importance of civil resistance in our current world, exploring the philosophical roots and the debates that have shaped modern forms of civil resistance and linking them with the latest insights in civil resistance studies.
Introduction.
1. Civil resistance: Something modern?
2. The genesis of
modern civil resistance theory: Standing on the shoulder of giants
3. The
boundaries of nonviolence: From self-immolation to blowing up pipelines
4.
When and why to resist: The quandary of authority
5. How and why it works I:
Theories of consent, power, and civil resistance
6. How and why it works II:
Methods/tactics of civil resistance
7. Breaking the law: The challenges of
civil disobedience
8. Breaching the system(s)? The challenge of civil
resistance against systems of oppression
9. Confronting blindspots: Some
Global South and Global Majority perspectives
10. Waging war nonviolently:
Civilian, social, and nonviolent defence
11. The dark side of nonviolence:
The use of nonviolent tactics and strategies by rightwing populists,
autocratizers, and autocrats
12. The last generation?: The climate movement
and escalation Conclusion: We are not done yet: Civil resistance in the
polycrisis
Daniel Petz is a scholar-activist with an academic background in philosophy as well as in peace and conflict studies. His main fields of expertise are civil resistance, climate justice, defending civic spacetime, and human mobility. Born in Austria, he currently lives in Indonesia, working at Universitas Gadjah Mada.
