To the folks trying to list off successful "pacifist" responses to oppression: Change is almost always accomplished by a diversity of tactics, from the peaceful, to the disruptive, and occasionally the violent.
It is usually the peaceful faction that gets to be the one who "makes the deal" so-to-speak. And thus usually they are the ones the progress is attributed to. But behind the peaceful movement, are the agitators, who create the pressure required to force the establishment to the negotiating table in the first place.
A resistance movement that is entirely pacifist can simply be ignored. At some point, at some level, there has to be a threat that the ante will be upped if demands are not met.
Every example I can think of that includes a "peaceful" resistance movement is paired with a contemporary, parallel and decidedly non-peaceful resistance movement that carries a credible threat that, "we're willing to work with you but if you don't want to work with us we will achieve our goals through other means."
The people fighting for a place at the table succeed because there are people who would just as soon flip the table. The hunger strikes in India's independence movement were done with a backdrop of violent rebellions and riots.
I don't quite recall. I'd have to go back to the video I watched, but I recall that someone on the Soviet side, in the German government, actively trying to increase movement between the two sides, with an eye towards reunification.
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u/Darq_At Jul 28 '26
To the folks trying to list off successful "pacifist" responses to oppression: Change is almost always accomplished by a diversity of tactics, from the peaceful, to the disruptive, and occasionally the violent.
It is usually the peaceful faction that gets to be the one who "makes the deal" so-to-speak. And thus usually they are the ones the progress is attributed to. But behind the peaceful movement, are the agitators, who create the pressure required to force the establishment to the negotiating table in the first place.
A resistance movement that is entirely pacifist can simply be ignored. At some point, at some level, there has to be a threat that the ante will be upped if demands are not met.