032 taunting officials

methods of nonviolent protest and persuasion pressures on individuals
032 taunting officials banner

"Instead of the predominantly silent and dignified behavior used in the above method, people may mock and insult officials, either at a certain place or by following them for a period. In the summer of 1942, for example, in Honan, China, under Kuomintang rule, tax collectors and soldiers seized grain from unwilling peasants who were facing a severe famine, having refused to accept either money or farm tools instead. As a result, in many villages, more soldiers had to be called in before the taxcollectors dared remove all the grain. As they dragged it away, the peasants would follow like a pack of monkey scarecrows, bitterly mocking, and sometimes threatening, without a trace of “virtue and obedience.” 149"...

((Sharp, Gene. The Politics of Nonviolent Action (p. 170). Albert Einstein Institution. Kindle Edition.))

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133 reluctant and slow compliance

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010 newspapers and journals

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trending_up 8.8/10 as a pair
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147 deliberate inefficiency and selective noncooperation by enforcement agents

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192 alternative economic institutions

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042 motorcades

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168 nonviolent raids

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trending_down 4.0/10 as a pair
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High scoring campaigns using this method

Historical cases from the Nonviolent Action Database that used this method

Palestinians in Budrus protest Israel's separation barrier, 2003-2004

10.0/10

The history of Israel-Palestine relations since 1987 can be marked by a series of Palestinian uprisings against Israeli occupation (for more information see the BBC’s timeline of the First Intifada and its causes- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/events/is...

Bulgarians campaign for democratic reforms and multi-party rule, 1989-90

10.0/10

By 1989, Bulgaria’s Communist Party Leader Todor Zhivkov had ruled the country for 35 years through a constitutionally sanctioned single-party government. Zhivkov and the communist Politburo had always quickly repressed any opposition and independent...

Georgians overthrow a dictator (Rose Revolution), 2003

10.0/10

The Rose Revolution in Georgia sought to overthrow President Eduard Shevardnadze. Shevardnadze was elected as president in 1995. A hold-over from the communist period, Shevardnadze was often seen as a puppet for the Soviet Union. In 2003, his actions...

German citizens defend democracy against Kapp Putsch, 1920

10.0/10

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...

German wives win the release of their Jewish husbands (Rosenstrasse Protest), 1943

10.0/10

On Saturday, February 27, 1943, the Gestapo in Nazi Germany began the “Final Roundup of Berlin Jews,” arresting all Jews in the city of Berlin. Many of these Jews were in intermarriages with non-Jewish spouses or were the children of such intermarria...

Colombians overthrow dictator, 1957

10.0/10

The strikes and demonstrations that deposed President Gustavo Rojas Pinilla of Colombia were planned somewhat day to day and began as reactionary actions in response to Rojas’s attempts to hold power indefinitely. The opposition to Rojas had a wide b...

Germans reclaim Heligoland from the United Kingdom, 1951

10.0/10

Heligoland (also spelled Helgoland) is an archipelago 46 kilometers off the German coastline in the North Sea. The two small islands are less than 2 square kilometers in total, but the British, Danish and Germans have hotly contested the land over th...

Occupy movement defends home from foreclosure, Los Angeles, California, 2012

10.0/10

After the 2008 home mortgage crisis, and particularly after the 2010-2011 recession, home foreclosure rates skyrocketed. Very few cases received much media attention. Dirma Rodgriguez’s situation is almost unique in that it was featured in local and ...

Bulgarians force further democratic reforms, 1997

10.0/10

In 1989, Bulgaria was part of the "wave" of nonviolent revolts against domination by the Soviet Union and its Communist-led governments in Eastern Europe (see Bulgarians campaign for democratic reforms and multi-party rule, 1989-90).\n\nNormal.dotm 0...

Serbians win reinstatement of elected opposition members, 1996-1997

10.0/10

The 1996-1997 protests in Serbia were an important step forward in the expressing the voice of the Serbian people and laid the groundwork for a broad, popular nonviolent movement that would eventually lead to the overthrow of longtime Serbian dictato...

Low scoring campaigns using this method

Historical cases from the Nonviolent Action Database that used this method

Kansas women protest anti-abortion advocate Governor Sam Brownback, 2012

2.0/10

In January 2011, Governor Sam Brownback took office in the U.S. state of Kansas. In rapid succession, strict new anti-abortion legislation passed through both houses of the state legislature.\n\nBrownback signed into law new restrictions on insurance...

Ohio citizens campaign to stop incinerator in East Liverpool 1991-1993

2.0/10

The Waste Technologies Industry, Inc. first proposed to build an incinerator in the floodplain of the Ohio River in East Liverpool, Ohio in 1977. Throughout the 1980s, the company battled with the local government officials and other regulatory agenc...

US Students Campaign to Stop Dow Chemical Company From Manufacturing Napalm (1967-1969)

2.0/10

The United States first used Napalm as an incendiary device in Japan during WWII. It melted flesh and produced horrific wounds. Napalm once again took on a functional role for the US in Vietnam, and the government requested bids from chemical manufac...

Guam teachers strike for wage increase, 1980-81

2.5/10

In 1980, the government of Guam employed over 9,000 workers, or 27% of all jobs on the island. Approximately half of these public workers were teachers. 2,400 teachers were members of the Guam Federation of Teachers (GFT), the largest union on the is...

Emelle residents protest Chemical Waste Management hazardous waste landfill 1978-1995

3.0/10

In 1978, Chemical Waste Management Inc. (CWM), a subsidiary of Waste Management Inc. (WMX), bought 300-acres of land near Emelle, Alabama for a hazardous waste landfill. Residents did not have the opportunity to protest the landfill prior to its cons...

Indigenous Colombians nonviolently dismantle military base and capture guerrilla fighters, 2012

3.0/10

The Colombian military and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas have been at war since 1964. Colombian citizens, especially indigenous, are often caught in the crossfire between the two armies. Both the government and FARC hav...

Mexican students protest for greater democracy, 1968

3.0/10

In July of 1968, as the student-led uprising of May and June in France was fading away, a new one was just beginning in Mexico City. Students inspired by the success of the movement in France saw their own opportunity to bring more open democracy to ...

Belarusians protest against President Lukashenko's sixth term, 2020

3.5/10

Alexander Lukashenko first assumed office as the president of Belarus in 1994. In the years to follow, he consolidated his power through increasingly authoritarian rule. Although the government held presidential elections to re-appoint Lukashenko for...

Effectiveness profile

Success by Opponent
Corporation / Business 6.0
Educational Institution 2.5
Financial Institution 8.8
Government / State Body 7.0
Healthcare Provider 10.0
Judiciary / Legal System 8.9
Media Organization 3.5
Military / Police 6.1
Success by Theme
Success by Group Type
Success by Region
Success by Campaign Scale
Success by Goal Magnitude

Risk profile

Risk by region

Compared to the worldwide average for this method

Africa
skull
Lethal Force and Harm trending_down Below Average
personal_injury
Physical Assault (Non-Lethal) arrow_upward Higher
gavel
Arrests and Legal Action trending_down Below Average
campaign
Intimidation and Harassment trending_down Below Average
lock
Restrictions on Rights and Freedoms trending_down Below Average
house_siding
Property Damage and Economic Reprisals trending_down Below Average
Americas
Asia
Europe
Oceania

Risk by regime

Compared to the worldwide average for this method

Closed autocracy
Electoral autocracy
Electoral democracy
Liberal democracy