The emergence of a nonviolent society in Czechoslovakia 1989: Nonviolent struggle and methods of the Velvet revolution: Nonviolent struggle and methods of the Velvet revolution
Author
Yankova, Iva Petrova
Term
4. term
Publication year
2016
Submitted on
2016-05-31
Pages
78
Abstract
Denne casestudie undersøger, hvordan befolkningen i Tjekkoslovakiet anvendte ikkevoldelige taktikker under Fløjlsrevolutionen i 1989. Den identificerer hovedkomponenterne i den ikkevoldelige kamp og systematiserer dem med udgangspunkt i teorierne fra Mahatma Gandhi, Richard Gregg og Gene Sharp. Undersøgelsen kombinerer indholdsanalysen af fem semistrukturerede interviews med historiske kilder for at spore mulige rødder til ikkevold i de tjekkiske egne og for at udforske påvirkninger fra den polske opposition, valgt som den mest lignende sammenligningssag. Studiet kortlægger, hvordan ideer om ikkevold og uformelle, kollektive (gerilla) praksisser kan have rejst mellem Polen og Tjekkoslovakiet. Det finder, at komponenterne især ligger tæt på den moralske ikkevold udviklet af Gandhi og Gregg, samtidig med at mange praktiske værktøjer blev anvendt spontant af deltagerne uden eksplicit strategi. Afhandlingen præsenterer også en separat sektion om metoder udviklet af mennesker under revolutionen. Begrænsninger omfatter tids- og sideomfang samt begrænset adgang til kilder på lokalsprog. Overordnet argumenterer studiet for, at fremvæksten af et ikkevoldeligt samfund i Tjekkoslovakiet udsprang af bestræbelser på at hæve de moralske standarder og et udbredt ideal om sandhed.
This case study examines how people in Czechoslovakia used nonviolent tactics during the 1989 Velvet Revolution. It identifies the main components of the nonviolent struggle and organizes them using the theories of Mahatma Gandhi, Richard Gregg, and Gene Sharp. The research combines content analysis of five semi-structured interviews with historical sources to trace possible roots of nonviolence in the Czech lands and to explore influences from the Polish opposition, chosen as the most similar comparison case. The study maps how ideas of nonviolence and informal, collective (guerrilla) practices may have traveled between Poland and Czechoslovakia. It finds that the components align most closely with moral nonviolence as developed by Gandhi and Gregg, while many practical tools were applied spontaneously by participants without explicit strategy. The paper also presents a separate section on methods developed by people during the revolution. Limitations include time and page constraints and restricted access to local-language sources. Overall, the study argues that the emergence of a nonviolent society in Czechoslovakia drew on efforts to raise moral standards and on a widely shared ideal of truth.
[This abstract was generated with the help of AI]
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