This Is an Uprising: How Nonviolent Revolt Is Shaping the Twenty-First Century

by Mark Engler, Paul Engler Narrated by Graham Halstead

Overview

Strategic nonviolent action has reasserted itself as a potent force in shaping public debate and forcing political change. Whether it is an explosive surge of protest calling for racial justice in the United States or a demand for democratic reform in Hong Kong or Mexico, when mass movements erupt onto our television screens, the media portrays them as being as spontaneous and unpredictable. In This Is an Uprising, political analysts Mark and Paul Engler uncover the organization and well-planned strategies behind such outbursts of protest, examining core principles that have been used to spark and guide moments of transformative unrest.



This Is an Uprising traces the evolution of civil resistance, providing new insights into the contributions of early experimenters such as Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.; groundbreaking theorists such as Gene Sharp and Frances Fox Piven; and contemporary practitioners who have toppled repressive regimes. Drawing from discussions with activists now working to defend human rights, challenge corporate corruption, and combat climate change, the Englers show how people with few resources and little influence in conventional politics can nevertheless engineer momentous upheavals.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

“Compellingly readable and quite timely…[The authors] deftly argue that organizers can define the terms of their own victory.” —Matt Wasserman, The Indypendent

“I picked up [This Is An Uprising], and within minutes I was engrossed… [The Englers] argue, persuasively, that… uprisings that use nonviolent confrontation have changed the world. And they have done it with such passion, intensity, and page-turning storytelling, that I had barely been able to put the book down.” —Ellen Michaud, QuakerBooks

“Anyone who doubts that community organizing is a significant part of the social fabric will find such assumptions dispelled by this intriguing and illuminating overview.” —Booklist

"Especially timely in the wake of protests across the United States, this book offers insight into how far we've come as a country and how much further we have to go." —Library Journal

“A usefully organized, concise history of social movements that will appeal to newer generations of activists.” —Kirkus Reviews

"Absorbing… Ambitious… Indispensable. A genuine gift to social movements everywhere." —Naomi Klein, author of This Changes Everything and The Shock Doctrine



"If you want to understand the social movements that are erupting all around us, you should be reading the Englers. Their writing is a revelation." —Andy Bichlbaum, The Yes Men

"Simply outstanding. The success or failure of future campaigns for peace and justice could depend on how many people read this book. Yes, it's that good." —Stephen Zunes, University of San Francisco

"This is truly an important work. The moments and movements that drive societal change have remained elusive and misunderstood by most, whether pundits, activists, or everyday people consuming the news. In This is an Uprising, Mark and Paul Engler brilliantly unearth, explain, and contextualize the dynamics of breakout mobilizations—both dispelling the popular notion that transformational progress simply arises from historical circumstance, and pushing back on long-held dogma that hinders more successful engineering of people-driven campaigns. For all those who seek to play an effective role in creating social or political change in the modern era, the Englers' book is a must read." —James Rucker, cofounder of ColorOfChange.org and Citizen Engagement Lab



"Mark Engler and Paul Engler haven't written a predictable book. The brothers have spent considerable time studying—and participating in—social movements, and their deep curiosity lends a propulsive feel to This Is An Uprising… The world is already messy and chaotic; social movements make it more so. And so a book like This Is an Uprising—crisply written, rigorous, blessedly free of clichés—is long overdue.” —Gabriel Thompson, Truthdig

"A very important book…. Indeed, anyone who is working with a group of people, no matter how small or large, which is serious about defending their rights, changing oppressive conditions, achieving justice or saving our seriously endangered environment would benefit from studying this well-researched book.” —Ted Glick, Z Magazine

"Engler & Engler carefully arrange the complex pieces of the puzzle that comprise a nonviolent movement…The authors touch on a range of issues that are certain to be of value to those most in need of such a timely work of scholarship – activists throughout the globe. In their impressive analysis and practically step-by-step account of what it takes for movements to instill change, the authors highlight the critical strategic undertones of otherwise seemingly spontaneous uprisings.” —Pauline Moore, Journal of Peace Research

"This book tells the stories of the mass movements that have made our world and continue to change it, and it tells them with excitement, insight, and hope like few have told them before." —Maria Elena Durazo, international union vice president for civil rights, diversity, and immigration, UNITE HERE!

"This book is the Rules for Radicals for a new generation. Mark and Paul Engler have written a defining work on the science of popular movements… A must-read for everyone fighting the battle for justice in this world." —Carlos Saavedra, lead trainer, Ayni Institute and former National Coordinator of United We Dream

"I love this book. The Englers have written fresh and exciting addition to the literature of social movements, a page-turner that is both hopeful and practical. A diversity of readers will recognize moments from their own experience in the stories, which powerfully show what is effective and what isn't in making major change. We all need to read this now." —George Lakey, author, activist, and founder of Training for Change




“Thorough and authoritative…Both as a primer on the theory of nonviolent protest and as a practical guide to positive action, [This Is An Uprising] is an invaluable resource.” —Peter Whittaker, New Internationalist

"A terrific survey of direct action strategies, bringing out many of the strengths and weaknesses of activist efforts to effect major change in the United States and around the world since well before the twenty-first century. It should be taught in every level of our schools." —David Swanson, Let's Try Democracy

“An ambitious, sweeping analysis of how uprisings do and do not bring progressive change... On issue after issue—immigrant rights, gay marriage, police shootings, protests against nuclear power to name but a few—the Englers show how and why mass protest prevailed over electoral politics. This is one of the many reasons why This is an Uprising is a worthwhile read for all activists.” —Randy Shaw, Beyond Chron

“Engler and Engler have distilled decades of complex and often discordant theories into an accessible guide to effective lasting civil resistance and organization building. This is a book that is likely to be read and reread for years to come.” —Shelf Awareness, Starred Review

From the Publisher - AUDIO COMMENTARY

"A usefully organized, concise history of social movements that will appeal to newer generations of activists." —Kirkus

Library Journal

01/01/2016
How do short-term uprisings become long-term movements? Why are some protests sensationalized while others are forgotten? Mark Engler (How To Rule the World) and Paul Engler (founding director, Ctr. for the Working Poor) answer these questions successfully while profiling the work of Gene Sharp, a theorist of nonviolent action. Although nonviolence was popularized by Mahatma Gandhi's Salt March (1930) and Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birmingham Campaign (1963), the ideology dates to ancient Rome. The authors emphasize that uprisings don't have to triumph, they simply have to bring awareness to an issue, and when nonviolence is met with violence, it garners public sympathy. Other protests featured include Serbia's Bulldozer Revolution (2000), fueled by prankster group Otpor!; Egypt's controversial January 25 Revolution (2011), part of the Arab Spring; the boom-and-bust of Occupy Wall Street (2011); and how the court of public opinion influenced the fight for marriage equality and immigrant rights. Movements are led by upstarts, the authors maintain, because organizations have too much at stake and elected officials are often unable to change the status quo. Many activists are erased from history when politicians and powerbrokers take credit, such as Abraham Lincoln abolishing slavery. VERDICT Especially timely in the wake of protests across the United States, this book offers insight into how far we've come as a country and how much further we have to go.—Stephanie Sendaula, Library Journal

Kirkus Reviews

2015-11-10
Optimistic overview of the recent surge in politically directed, nonviolent mass advocacy movements, focused on historical examples and the tactical future. Co-authors Mark Engler (How to Rule the World: The Coming Battle Over the Global Economy, 2008) and Paul Engler, founding director of the Center for the Working Poor, collaborate on a cleareyed, enthusiastic treatise, seeing evidence in diverse historical and recent events that collective civil actions are supplanting violent rebellions in creating social change. At the outset, they wonder, "what if periods of mass, spontaneous uprising are neither as spontaneous nor as unbridled as they might at first appear?" They build their response around a number of longitudinal real-world examples, ranging from Martin Luther King's 1963 campaign in Birmingham to Gandhi's 1930 "salt march," which discredited the British Raj, to the recent Occupy protests. They synthesize these narratives with an overview of effective strategies, based on theorists Saul Alinsky, Frances Fox Piven, and Gene Sharp (an obscure academic considered a perennial favorite for the Nobel Peace Prize), producing a clearly organized mix of history and handbook. Although King was an early proponent of "momentum-driven mass mobilization," the Englers note that his approach was more improvisational and high-risk than is historically remembered. They hold up the surprisingly quick mainstream acceptance of gay marriage as an example of successful legislation and networking; in contrast, the divisive tactics of ACT UP in response to the 1980s AIDS crisis produced both backlash and effective change. In a chapter on organizational discipline, the authors examine how the Weather Underground's destructive approach essentially crippled the New Left. Although the authors write with clear passion regarding these examples of dramatic social change, they acknowledge that the Arab Spring has provided a counternarrative: "the revolution in Egypt presents a troubling case….Not all efforts to create change prevail over the long term." A usefully organized, concise history of social movements that will appeal to newer generations of activists.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171126018
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	04/11/2017
Edition description:	Unabridged

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