This Is an Uprising

December 1, 2015
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.

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January 1, 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

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2016
The authors dig deep into the history of nonviolent protest in this highly readable and well-organized title. To show the practical application of their research, the Englers draw from such historic events as the 1963 Birmingham civil-rights campaign, Gandhi's 1930 salt march, the overthrow of Slobodan Milosevic in 2000, and the recent Occupy movement. They also cover less-established subjects, especially the long-reaching and positive work of community organizer Saul Alinsky and political-science professor Gene Sharp, weaving their stories throughout the book as they survey nonviolent movements around the world. Readers will be inspired by the prescient quotes from activists and organizers that the Englers share, all ringing with timeless truths. Even a dictator can't collect taxes on his own, says one Serbian protester, expressing why it takes involvement from the bottom up to create permanent change in every society. 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.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)