nonviolence – michaelcaster

Nonviolent activism around the Olympic Games: History and lessons learned

November 25, 2015

This article was originally published at openDemocracy.net on 24 November 2015 and is available here. Whereas countless public figures have insisted that the Olympics be kept “apolitical” for decades, nonviolent action and civil society together have succeeded in revealing the hollowness of such a notion. A Tiananmen Square-themed Olympic logo. Creative Commons. Some rights reserved.Bringing … More Nonviolent activism around the Olympic Games: History and lessons learned

Violence and Nonviolence in the Uyghur Struggle

October 23, 2014

First published at opendemocracy.net on 10 October 2014 as Resistance, repression, and the cycle of violence in the Uyghur Struggle. On Tuesday, September 26, 2014 a Chinese court convicted Ilham Tohti, a Uyghur economics professor, to a life sentence on charges of separatism in a disgracefully political trial. Amnesty International’s China researcher William Nee wrote, … More Violence and Nonviolence in the Uyghur Struggle

Urging Nonviolence After Tiananmen

June 5, 2014

In commemoration of the Tiananmen Massacre, the following is from a pamphlet issued by the Autonomous Federation of Students on June 4th, 1989. It outlines and reiterates the need to remain nonviolent. “This fascist massacre pushes the people of the entire nation beyond the outer limits of toleration. The blood will not have been shed … More Urging Nonviolence After Tiananmen

In China: Citizenship on Trial

February 12, 2014

This article was originally published in a shortened version on 7 February 2014 at Waging Nonviolence. Available here. — Last week China observed the lunar New Year. The Spring Festival is celebrated with two weeks of fireworks and food, when hundreds of millions of Chinese travel home to be with their families, but this year … More In China: Citizenship on Trial

Revisiting Righteous Indignation

January 21, 2014

Originally published by Dissident Voice on 20 January 2014. Revisiting Righteous Indignation: the Radical Tradition of Martin Luther King Jr. There’s a scene in Lee Daniel’s The Butler when the son of Forest Whitaker’s character is sitting in the Lorraine Motel with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., shortly before his assassination. Dr. King asks those … More Revisiting Righteous Indignation

In China: Rightful Resistance and the UN Human Rights Council

December 10, 2013

This article was originally published under the headline Internationalizing rights-based resistance in China: the UN Human Rights Council and the citizen at openDemocracy.net on 15 November 2013. But in light of today, UN Human Rights Day, it seems appropriate to share again. — On the morning of 22 October, special envoy Wu Hailong led Beijing’s … More In China: Rightful Resistance and the UN Human Rights Council

American Prisons versus the World Population

November 14, 2013

The United States of America has the highest incarceration rate in the world. With 716 people in prison for every 100,000, according to the International Centre for Prison Studies, that is a higher percentage of total population than any other country. Furthermore, based on a new report by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), A … More American Prisons versus the World Population

Surveying Nonviolence in China

October 4, 2013

This Article was originally published on 24 September by openDemocracy under the title A Sea of Dissent: Nonviolent Waves in China. — In 2010, Chinese sociologist, Sun Linping, estimated that the number of mass incidents across China had surpassed 180,000 that year, more than doubling from 2006. This indicates growing discontent in the world’s most … More Surveying Nonviolence in China

michaelcaster

Human Rights Advocate and Researcher

Tag: nonviolence