037 singing

methods of nonviolent protest and persuasion drama and music
037 singing banner

"Under appropriate conditions, singing may constitute a method of nonviolent protest—for example, singing while an unwanted speech is being made, singing national or religious songs and hymns, rival vocal programs to compete with boycotted ones organized by the opponent, singing while engaged in a march, civil disobedience, or some other act of opposition, and singing songs of social and political satire and protest."...

((Sharp, Gene. The Politics of Nonviolent Action (p. 173). Albert Einstein Institution. Kindle Edition.))

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High scoring campaigns using this method

Historical cases from the Nonviolent Action Database that used this method

Earth Quaker Action Team Campaigns Against PNC Bank for Financing Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining 2010-2015

10.0/10

The Earth Quaker Action Team’s first campaign, BLAM! (Bank Like Appalachia Matters!) began on 18 February 2010. Ingrid Lakey, Board Member of EQAT, sent a letter to PNC Vice President Jean Caulfield, which described the health and environmental dange...

Norwegian teachers prevent Nazi takeover of education, 1942

10.0/10

Norway was invaded by the Nazis on April 9, 1940. Within two months, the Nazis had crushed Norwegian military resistance and installed a puppet government. Norwegians responded to the occupation of their country both nonviolently and violently. Becau...

Costa Ricans protest open pit gold mining, 2010

10.0/10

In 2008, former President of Costa Rica, Oscar Arias authorized the removal of over 600 acres of yellow almond trees in order to build a gold mine in Las Crucitas, a small town in Northern Costa Rica. Costa Rican law prohibits the cutting down of the...

Connecticut Residents Give Up National Borders for Lent 2012-2013

10.0/10

In 2008, the Federal Government of the United States launched a program called “Secure Communities” that would allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement to review records of suspects in the custody of local and state police. In cases where officials ...

Community members campaign for integration of Girard College in Philadelphia, PA, USA, 1965-68

10.0/10

Stephen Girard (1750 – 1831), the well known Philadelphia merchant and banker, bequeathed a large sum of money to be used in the founding of Girard College, a boarding school for orphaned youth between the ages of six and ten. The school was establis...

Columbia University students win divestment from apartheid South Africa, United States, 1985

10.0/10

On April 4, 1985, seven students at Columbia University, members of the Coalition for a Free South Africa (CFSA), chained closed the doors to Columbia’s administrative building, Hamilton Hall, and sat on the steps, blockading the entrance. They were ...

Peace activists pledge resistance against U.S. military intervention in Central America, 1984-1990

10.0/10

In the early 1980s, it was no secret that United States president Ronald Reagan would use any means necessary to end or prevent the influence of Communism and the Soviet Union around the globe. The two countries had been engaged in a bitter ideologic...

Mongolians win multi-party democracy, 1989-1990

10.0/10

In 1921 the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party (MPRP) came to power and soon aligned the country with the USSR. Until this democracy campaign in 1989, the MPRP ruled Mongolia through a constitutionally-sanctioned single-party government. By the m...

Latvians campaign for national independence, 1989-1991

10.0/10

The Baltic republics of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania achieved their independence from the Soviet Union by conducting movements based on nonviolence. Tactics included: nonviolent protests, noncooperation, and defiance to combat Soviet military interv...

Chinese residents force relocation of chemical plant in Xiamen, 2007

10.0/10

It was announced in November 2006 that a chemical plant producing paraxylene (PX) and teraphalic acid would be built in the Haicang District 7km from Xiamen, a city of about 3.5 million residents in southeastern Fujian Province China. The two compani...

Low scoring campaigns using this method

Historical cases from the Nonviolent Action Database that used this method

Montgomery, Alabama students sit-in for U.S. Civil Rights, 1960

1.0/10

The Montgomery, Alabama sit-ins took place during the era of Jim Crow laws in the southern United States. The first of the Supreme Court rulings against these laws – which are symbolized by the phrase “Separate but Equal” – took place in 1954, in the...

Yale University students protest sweatshop labor, 2000

1.5/10

On 1 March 2000, 400 Yale University students rallied to demand that their administration withdraw from the Fair Labor Association (FLA) and join the Workers Rights Consortium (WRC) instead. Both organizations focused on monitoring sweatshop labor an...

The Albany Movement campaigns for full integration in Georgia (Fall 1961- Summer 1962)

2.0/10

Up until 1961, the extent of the civil rights movement in Albany, Georgia had been limited to small student groups refusing to obey segregation laws; however, with the arrival of a prominent civil rights group the community would be energized. Albany...

Americans blockade Washington, DC, to protest the Vietnam War, 1971

2.0/10

“If the government won’t stop the war, we’ll stop the government.” That was the central slogan of the Mayday campaign.\n\nThe Anti-Vietnam War movement included striking examples of nonviolent direct action. Many of the protests against the Vietnam W...

Anti-Roads campaign fights highway construction in England, 1991-1995

2.0/10

Twyford Down, a small area in southern England, was the site of the Department of Transport's (DoT) plans to extend the M3 highway from London to Southampton Port in 1990. The DoT had used economic analysis to determine that the time saved from this ...

MIT students campaign for divestment from apartheid South Africa, 1985-1991

2.0/10

In reaction to the continuing apartheid in South Africa, many colleges and universities in the United States divested from South Africa, meaning that they removed the holdings they had from companies which operated there. Apartheid separated blacks a...

Swazi teachers strike for economic justice, 2012

2.5/10

In 2012, Swaziland was a small landlocked country in southern Africa ruled by King Mswati III. Sixty three percent of the country’s population lived below the poverty line. Government spending on education had continuously decreased since 2008. With ...

Burmese (Myanmar) monks campaign for democracy (Saffron Revolution), 2007

2.5/10

In 1988 Burmese students led mass demonstrations against the oppressive military junta of Burma (the country now referred to as Myanmar). The result was 3,000 civilians dead after a governmental crackdown and a prevailing junta. Shortly after, as the...

South African blacks boycott apartheid in Port Elizabeth, 1985-86

2.5/10

Apartheid, the legalized segregation of blacks – and other people of color – and whites, was actively employed in South Africa. Black South Africans experienced discrimination in facilities, workplaces, educational institutions, medical care, and pub...

Turkish Cypriots campaign for European Union membership of Cyprus, 2002-2003

3.0/10

On 21 December 1963, the Greek-Turkish controlled island of Cyprus experienced extreme intercommunal violence between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots. The capital, Nicosia, was thereafter divided into two sectors by a “Green Line”, separating the two ...

Effectiveness profile

Success by Opponent
Corporation / Business 7.0
Educational Institution 6.3
Financial Institution 7.9
Government / State Body 7.1
Healthcare Provider 7.2
Judiciary / Legal System 8.3
Media Organization 8.0
Military / Police 6.6
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_up Above Average
personal_injury
Physical Assault (Non-Lethal) trending_down Below Average
gavel
Arrests and Legal Action trending_down Below Average
campaign
Intimidation and Harassment trending_down Below Average
lock
Restrictions on Rights and Freedoms trending_flat 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