Social Justice Resource Center » Publications

500 Years of Protest and Liberty, From Martin Luther to Civil Rights

By Nicolas Miller. Traces a line from Martin Luther’s ideas about the equality of persons before God to more current debates about...

A Force More Powerful Film Study Guide

Includes summaries, timelines and research activities for each of the stories. Read more.

A Force More Powerful: A Century of Nonviolent Conflict

By Peter Ackerman and Jack Duvall. Explores how popular movements battled entrenched regimes and military forces with unconventional weapons like boycotts, strikes,...

Civil Resistance Tactics in the 21st Century

By Michael Beer. A practical resource that dovetails two online sources (Nonviolence International’s Nonviolent Tactics Database and Organizing & Training Archive) so...

Crises of the Republic: Lying in Politics; Civil Disobedience; On Violence; Thoughts on Politics and Revolution

By Hannah Arendt. A collection of studies from the standpoint of a political philosopher, that view the crises of the 1960s and...

Faith in Action: A Handbook for Activists, Advocates and Allies

By Richard Wood. Offers information on a wide range of topics, including racial justice, environmental concerns, LGBTQIA equality, Native people’s rights, women’s...

Hold Nothing Back: Writings of Dorothy Day

Edited by Patrick Jordan. An abridged edition of the previously published Dorothy Day: Writings from Commonweal—gives a glimpse of her humanity and...

Is There No Other Way? The Search for a Nonviolent Future

By Michael Nagler. Describes both the laws of nonviolence and the nonviolent actions of ordinary people, with analyses of events like the...

Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. The Power of Nonviolent Action

By Mary King. Looks at nonviolent political strategy and change in the twentieth century by chronicling the words of Gandhi and King...

Nonviolent Social Movements: A Geographical Perspective

Edited by Sarah Asher, Lester Kurtz, and Stephen Zunes. Offers a global overview of the dramatic growth of popular nonviolent struggles in...

On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience

By Henry David Thoreau. A new edition of this classic. Makes the case that an individual not only has the right, but...

Politics of Nonviolent Action: Part One, Power and Struggle

By Gene Sharp. An analysis of political power, demonstrating that it derives from sources in the society and showing that even the...

Politics of Nonviolent Action: Part Three, The Dynamics of Nonviolent Action

By Gene Sharp. Examines the operation of nonviolence against a violent, repressive opponent including ground work which may precede the struggle as...

Politics of Nonviolent Action: Part Two, The Methods of Nonviolent Action

By Gene Sharp. An examination of 198 specific methods of nonviolent action – illustrated with specific cases – within the broad classes...

Power in Movement: Social Movements, Collective Action and Politics.

By Sidney Tarrow. Surveys the history of the social movement & suggests a theory of collective action to explain its surges and...

The Social Movement Society: Contentious Politics for a New Century

Edited by David Meyer and Sidney Tarrow. Brings together scholars from Europe and the U.S., and from both political science and sociology,...

The Two Hands of Yes and No: One Family’s Encounter with the Surprising Power of Active Nonviolence

By John Linn, Sheila Fabricant Linn and Dennis Linn. With stories ranging from Gandhi’s struggles in India, to resistance against Nazi occupation,...

Waging a Good War: A Military History of the Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1968

By Thomas E. Ricks. Offers a fresh perspective on the civil rights movement and its legacy today. Draws deeply on the author’s...

Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict

By Erica Chenoweth and Maria Stephan. Compares violent and nonviolent outcomes in different historical periods and geographical contexts, debunking the myth that...