Influential community members and the successful emergence of nonviolent resistance during violent conflict

Abstract

How do local communities develop the capacity to successfully engage in nonviolent resistance amidst war? Overall, I argue that nonviolent opposition by influential community members – first movers – to conflict-related violence strengthens their community’s ability to successfully engage in future nonviolent resistance by changing local patterns of ‘population sorting’. Thereafter, civilians that support nonviolent resistance are more likely to remain in or join the community. Unsupportive civilians may instead pursue alternative strategies, such as fleeing conflict, rather than remain where nonviolent resistance appears likely. Over time, a larger proportion of remaining community residents support and have the capacity to engage in nonviolent resistance. This article contributes to scholarship on civil resistance and agency in civil war by clarifying the characteristics of individuals capable of successfully developing community aptitude for nonviolent resistance, drawing on interviews, community archives, and historical accounts in the case of the Asociación de Trabajadores Campesinos del Carare (ATCC).