135 popular nonobedience
"There are a large number of instances in which the general population, or part of it, has consciously disregarded and violated laws or regulations, but in ways which do not amount to civil disobedience. One or more characteristics of either of the types of civil disobedience may be absent—for example, the disobeyed law may not be seen as illegitimate. Primarily, however, this method involves ignoring or disregarding the law or regulations more than blatant defiance, the resisters choosing not to flaunt their noncompliance. The acts may be open and unhidden but not advertised, the resisters preferring to remain, as far as possible, personally unknown and unpunished and to continue to be part of a larger opposition group."...
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High scoring campaigns using this method
Historical cases from the Nonviolent Action Database that used this method
German citizens defend democracy against Kapp Putsch, 1920
In March 1920, Walther von Lüttwitz, a commanding general in the German army, and Wolfgang Kapp, a German provincial official (with the help of a few other German officials, such as Chief of Staff, General Hans von Seeckt and his collaborators in the...
Estonians campaign for independence (The Singing Revolution), 1987-1991
Estonians have long held a tradition of singing. Beginning in 1869, Estonians have held a song festival every five years called the Laulupidu during which thousands of Estonians gather to sing together. During the 1940s, the Soviet Union invaded and ...
Kumaon villagers campaign against British forest regulations, 1916-1921
From 1916 to 1921, villagers in Kumaon in northern India set hundreds of forest fires to protest the colonial British state’s increasing regulations of the natural environment.\n\nRural residents of Kumaon depended on forests as a source of firewood ...
Armenians protest for resignation of Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan, 2018
Since gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Armenia has spent almost two decades as a quasi-authoritarian state with the ruling Republican Party controlling most of its political, economic, and social institutions. Serzh Sargsyan became...
Plebeians campaign at Sacred Mount for economic and political rights, Ancient Rome, 494 BCE
The plebeians made up the majority of the citizen population of Ancient Rome and occupied the economic range anywhere below the ruling Patrician class and above the slave class. A Senate made up of 100 men from traditional patrician families and 200 ...
French Christians save Jews from Nazi holocaust, Le Chambon, 1940-1944
Le Chambon-sur-Lignon was a community located in south central France. With a history of being a refuge for persecuted Protestant Huguenots in 17th century, it was primarily a Presbyterian town.\n\nIn 1934 Andre Trocme arrived in Le Chambon with his ...
Germans defend Ruhr Valley from French and Belgian invasion (Ruhrkampf), 1923
Following a loss in World War I, Germany was charged to pay reparations for their destructive role. The bill was $33 billion. Germany had been weakened by the war and paying the reparations at the rate in which they were due would have completely cri...
Bulgarians defend Jews from deportation during World War II, 1941-1945
Early on in the Second World War, Bulgaria was a member of the Axis powers, having signed the Tripartite Pact on March 1, 1941. However, Bulgaria was not emotionally attached to the ideals of the major Axis powers. They simply signed on because they ...
Indians in South Africa wage Satyagraha for their rights, 1906-1914
Before the start of the 20th century, there were about 62,000 Indians living in South Africa, including the British colonies of Natal and the Cape, and the Boer republics of Transvaal and the Orange Free State (OFS). Most Indians were indentured labo...
Low scoring campaigns using this method
Historical cases from the Nonviolent Action Database that used this method
Luxembourgers general strike against Nazi occupation, 1942
In the 1940s, Nazi Germany under the government of Adolf Hitler was advancing its conquest of Europe during the Second World War. By May 1940, Luxembourg, a small neutral country bordering Germany, was placed under military occupation by forces of th...
Cambodia's Dey Krahorm villagers resist forced eviction 2005-2009
In the 1980's, after the Khmer Rouge lost control of much of Cambodia, displaced people flowed back into the capital city of Phnom Penh. Returnees created new settlements and villages when vacant housing was no longer available. One group of returnee...
New Brunswick Burnt Church First Nation campaign to defend their fishing rights, 1999-2002
The Mi’Kmaq people of New Brunswick have always fished in the Miramichi Bay and River. On 17 September 1999, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the native fishing rights of Donald Marshall, who had been charged with fishing out of season, fishing wit...
Palestinians wage nonviolent campaign during First Intifada, 1987-1988
EDITOR'S NOTE: Regarding the First Intifada as "nonviolent" is controversial because of the violence that accompanied the campaign. Aden Tedla's narrative does not try to hide the violent dimension. Three considerations lead us to include the case in...