Social Movements, Nonviolent

Nonviolent social movements rely primarily upon methods of nonviolent action to promote change. Although most social movements concerned with personal transformation, lifestyle, and culture are nonviolent, those concerned with political, social, and economic change that directly challenge the interests of the elite may be violent, nonviolent, or a combination of the two. The focus here is on social movements that directly challenge elite interests, and that do so – by choice or due to limited options – only or primarily through methods of nonviolent action, such as protest demonstrations, marches, boycotts, strikes, and civil disobedience. Of course, any social movement that directly challenges the interests of the elite, whether it is nonviolent or violent, may be met with violence.