This research takes an in-depth look at the history of Iranian women's struggles through the lens of nonviolent action and strategy, from one hundred years ago until now. The goal of this paper is to analyze various women's movements in Iran based on the social and theoretical concepts of nonviolent defense.

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The Tobacco Rebellion of late 19th century was the first time that the people of Iran engaged in nonviolent civil resistance against a regime that did not allow them to have any role. The movement was a bitter experience for the regime and marked the first time in which brutalities did not suffice for the authoritarian regime.

This article is only available in Farsi. You can view it by clicking here.

Nonviolent Struggle is not necessarily accommodating. Even the usage of the term "movement" to refer to nonviolent struggle intensifies this misconception. The first thing to remember about nonviolent struggle is that it is just that: a struggle..."

In this paper, Ramin Ahmadi addresses some of the main misconceptions about nonviolent action.

It is available in Farsi, and you can read it here.

When people think about the Iranian Revolution, the images that come to mind include Ayatollah khomeini returning to Iran, the American embassy hostage crisis and the ensuing theocratic rule and the 8-year war in Iraq. As the Iranian Revolution led to a regime that has maintained an extremely poor human rights record and led the country toward isolation for 30 years, most Iranians think that they need to avoid doing everything they did in the last revolution. This research paper for the first time tells the story of the Iranian Revolution as a story of success through the lens of nonviolent resistance, strategy and tactics.

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To conduct the nonviolent struggle, we must understand the nature of political power, because the objective of any struggle is either to achieve the political power, or to deny it to somebody else. You cannot change the society, without having the political powers to pursue the reforms. It is not the fighting for ideals, but fighting for political power to make that ideals true.

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This (Farsi) paper in a very compact form provides a set of valuable feedback points for the Iranians who are engaged in nonviolent defense during the current movement.

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FROM CHAPTER 1...

Supporters of political democracy, human rights, and social justice have good reasons to be alarmed about coups d’état. These abrupt seizures of the state apparatus have occurred with great frequency in recent decades. Coups have overthrown established constitutional democratic systems of government, halted movements toward greater democracy, and have imposed brutal and oppressive regimes. Coups d’état are one of the main ways in which new dictatorships are established. Coups may also precipitate civil wars and international crises. Coups remain a major unsolved defense problem.

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FROM CHAPTER 1... 

Violence in society and politics, whether in the form of war, terrorism, dictatorship, oppression, usurpation, or genocide, is widely recognized as a grave problem. 

All the proposals to solve the problem of violence, or particular expressions of it, have been unsuccessful. It is probable that the problem remains unsolved because such proposals have been based on inadequate understandings of its nature. Without understanding a problem, it is difficult, if not impossible, to solve it.

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These methods were compiled by Dr. Gene Sharp of Albert Einstein Institution and first published in his 1973 book, The Politics of Nonviolent Action, Vol. 2: The Methods of Nonviolent Action. (Boston: Porter Sargent Publishers, 1973).

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"The CANVAS Core Curriculum provides a wealth of information on a broad range of topics relevant to waging nonviolent conflict. It combines theoretical insights about nonviolent struggle with practical knowledge that is based on the authors’ and activists' real world experience.

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