Resistance to Authoritarianism

This four-part series is designed to teach and to support people who want counter authoritarianism by using nonviolent resistance strategies and tactics. To encourage collaboration and to build trust, registration will close the day before the first class. Once registration closes, no new participants will be admitted. Please register now for all four sessions.

If you would like to supplement your understanding of the material, then consider purchasing your own copy of From Dictatorship to Democracy: A Conceptual Framework for Liberation by Gene Sharp. This text is not required for the course.

You can obtain a copy of From Dictatorship to Democracy in the following formats:

Audio format: https://archive.org/details/from_dictatorship_to_democracy_1306_librivox

PDF format: https://www.google.com/books/edition/From_Dictatorship_to_Democracy/9ThfnNG68vMC?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover

During each class, you will have an opportunity to engage with other participants and ask questions of the facilitator. Below is a brief outline of each module.

October 19: Part I: The Power of Nonviolent Resistance
Reading: Sharp, Preface through Chapter 2

October 26: Part II: Political Defiance and Civil Society
Reading: Sharp, Chapters 3-5

November 2: Part III: Strategic Planning
Reading: Sharp, Chapters 6-7

Novermber 16: Part IV: Escalating Freedom
Reading: Sharp, Chapters 8-10

Holston Valley Unitarian Universalist Church (HVUUC) is offering free childcare in additon to providing a space for us to gather. If you would like to take advantage of the free childcare, then please contact Emily (c2pjaGFpciB8IGh2dXVjICEgb3Jn) and share how many children will be coming.

Monetary donations to support HVUUC are welcomed.

Meet the facilitator:

Dr. Amy Edmonds has lived in East Tennessee since 2010, and teaches courses about American Politics and International Relations. Her research focuses on nonviolent resistance to authoritarianism in Latin America, democratization, and the relationshship between religion and conflict. She has lived in Costa Rica, Venezuela, England, and the Netherlands, and traveled extensively throughout Latin America and Europe. Her most recent publication is about the Chilean resistance to the Pinochet regime and is published in the journal Peace & Change: A Journal of Peace Research. Non-academic areas of interest include hiking, gardening, binge-reading dystopian fiction, and taking long walks with her 2 cats and 2 amazing daughters.

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