023 destruction of own property
"An unusual method of nonviolent protest is the voluntary destruction of one’s own property in order to demonstrate the intensity of one’s feelings of opposition. Where there is danger from the act of destruction, all persons are removed to safety in advance so that there is no physical harm to anyone."...
Potentially problematic matches
High scoring campaigns using this method
Historical cases from the Nonviolent Action Database that used this method
Australian citizens force end to nation’s military participation in Vietnam War through Vietnam Moratorium Campaign 1970-1971
Australian citizens offered little opposition to their country’s early involvement in the Vietnam War. Opposition came from groups like Youth Campaign Against Conscription (YCAC), founded in 1964, and Save our Sons (SOS) , founded in 1965. Other earl...
Egyptians bring down dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak, 2011
Beginning in 1981, Hosni Mubarak ruled Egypt for over twenty-nine years. Though he ran for presidential reelection several times, elections were marked by widespread fraud, and opposing politicians were legally prohibited from running against Mubarak...
Zambians campaign for independence, 1944-1964
In order to strengthen their hold on political and economic power, the white settlers of British-controlled Northern Rhodesia sought to unite the British colonial territories of Northern Rhodesia, Southern Rhodesia, and Nyasaland during the late 1930...
U.S. National Woman's Party campaigns for suffrage, 1914-1920
When Alice Paul emerged into the somewhat stagnant scene of the National American Woman’s Suffrage Association’s (NAWSA) campaign for the right to vote in 1912, the energy and momentum of the movement surged. Having just come from Britain where women...
Polish workers strike, stop price increases, 1976
Following World War II, the Soviet Union set up a government, the PZPR (Polish United Workers’ Party), in Poland that did not permit workers at state-owned factories and businesses to represent their interests in labor unions independently from Party...
Mauritius Tamil community stops banknote alteration, 1998
On the island nation of Mauritius, three languages appear on the banknotes. Traditionally, the languages are English, Tamil, and Hindi - in that order. On October 18, 1998, the Central Bank of Mauritius released a new series of banknotes upon which t...
Love Canal residents campaign for clean environment, New York, USA, 1978-1980
In 1894, William T. Love started construction on a power canal in an area outside of Niagara Falls in upstate New York. Although the canal was never completed, the neighborhood of Love Canal was born and soon became a locus of major chemical companie...
International groups boycott Nestle products to end indiscriminate advertising, 1977-1984
Artificial baby milks—so called “infant formula”—became widespread commercial product during the early decades of the twentieth century. Among many companies involved, Nestlé’s was the biggest promoter, controlling more than 40% of the estimated $1.7...
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 ...
Low scoring campaigns using this method
Historical cases from the Nonviolent Action Database that used this method
Gazans March for the Right to Return to Their Homes, 2018-2019
From 30 March 2018 to 26 December 2019, Gazans protested at the Israeli border every Friday for the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and land that they had been displaced from since 1948. This series of demonstrations is known n...
Norwegian farmers stage a bread blockade for higher government subsidies 2012
In late April and early May of 2012, the Norwegian government and the National Farmers Union were negotiating about governmental support for agriculture. The National Farmers Union asked for 2.2 billion kroner in subsidies and other support to farmer...
Dominicans strike for national economic reform, 2003-2004
During the economic crisis in the Dominican Republic in 2003-2004, Dominicans protested due the peso dropping by half its value. In response to the depreciation, the government entered into a loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund. In ad...
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...
Gazans protest dire economic conditions and tax hikes ('We want to live' protests), 2019
In February of 2019, a hashtag reading “We Want to Live” (WWL) in Arabic began circulating on Gazan social media pages. Those posting the hashtag were protesting the deteriorating economic conditions, the high cost of living, and the recent tax incre...