From Dictatorship to Democracy: A Conceptual Framework for Liberation

Price: $14.99 - $10.39
(as of Apr 08, 2025 09:49:43 UTC – Details)

“What Sun Tzu and Clausewitz were to war, Sharp. . . was to nonviolent struggle―strategist, philosopher, guru.”―The New York Times

The revolutionary word-of-mouth phenomenon, available for the first time as a trade book

Twenty-one years ago, at a friend’s request, a Massachusetts professor sketched out a blueprint for nonviolent resistance to repressive regimes. It would go on to be translated, photocopied, and handed from one activist to another, traveling from country to country across the globe: from Iran to Venezuela―where both countries consider Gene Sharp to be an enemy of the state―to Serbia; Afghanistan; Vietnam; the former Soviet Union; China; Nepal; and, more recently and notably, Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Libya, and Syria, where it has served as a guiding light of the Arab Spring.

This short, pithy, inspiring, and extraordinarily clear guide to overthrowing a dictatorship by nonviolent means lists 198 specific methods to consider, depending on the circumstances: sit-ins, popular nonobedience, selective strikes, withdrawal of bank deposits, revenue refusal, walkouts, silence, and hunger strikes. From Dictatorship to Democracy is the remarkable work that has made the little-known Sharp into the world’s most effective and sought-after analyst of resistance to authoritarian regimes.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ The New Press (September 4, 2012)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 160 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1595588507
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1595588500
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.1 x 0.7 x 7.4 inches