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Training for the frontline of nonviolent resistance
Living Resistance workshops draw growing interest
Karen Ridd, Teaching Associate Professor of Peace and Conflict Transformation Studies, leads a Living Resistance workshop at Canadian Mennonite University.
Local and global events play out on our phones, computers, and on the dews daily in front of our eyes. With the increasing prevalence of social media and instant messaging, exposure to injustice has never been more immediate or overwhelming.
The sheer scale of harm can be demoralizing, leaving many unsure how to respond in meaningful ways.
In an effort to turn that despair into hope, and immobilization into action, Karen Ridd, Teaching Associate Professor of Peace and Conflict Transformation Studies and Conflict Resolution Studies, created Living Resistance, a non-violent training workshop.
With four sessions, hosted every Monday from March 9 to 30 at CMU, Ridd explores how communities around the world have resisted injustice without resorting to violence. Participants learn about the rich history of non-violent action and will gain pratical tools for responding thoughtfully during alarming events.
The workshop emerged out of shared urgency from the earlier Singing Resistance gatherings at CMU. These community gatherings were oppotunities for people to come together to sing songs of courage, protest, lament, and hope.
At CMU, these conversations are connected to the broader academic focus on peacebuilding, conflict transformation, and ethical engagement with the world.
"I have been teaching in this field for years and teaching this type of workshop in other places," Ridd says. She hopes to make the course accessible and give people a taste of onviolent action while drawing on her years of teaching and facilitation experience.
Ridd says there are hundreds of methods of non-violent action. While demonstrations are often the most visible, non-violent action also includes petitions, boycotts, intentional purchasing, and supporting others engages in resistance. At its core, it involves being, as Ridd says, "thoughful about what's the best kind of strategic way to respond," and working collectively.
"One of the things that really helps us out of paralysis is to do something," she says. "What you may do may be very insignificant, but it's very significant that you do it." The training itself becomes a first step towards further action.
"We don't expect athletes to go out and play a game without having practice. We don't expect a musician to go on stage without having practiced their pieces. It's the same thing with non-violent action. It can be very helpful to have a little bit of practice, and that helps us get a clear sense of what we're doing and also feel more confident about what we're doing."
The Living Resistance workshop draws on a range of real-world examples, from recent non-violent organizing in Minneapolis to Canada's own history of resistance movements, including Indigenous activism, labour organizing, and Black Lives Matter.
Underlying the workshop is a broader critique of how societies imagine defence and power. Ridd challenges the assumption that safety comes primarily through military strength, calling that perspective "unrealistic," and argues that investing in social systems can ultimately create greater security.
"I think a big part of that is we have not been taught to see non-violent action as a viable option." There are many examples of non-violent action, Ridd says, but the media tends to focus on the violent ones.
After growing up with the common belief that meaningful change required force, Ridd says her views began to change during her time working in Central America with people in very repressive circumstances. She kept seeing examples of people choosing non-violent resistance and says she "started to question my own belief system."
"And then I started to, because I'm a curious person and I love stories, I began seeking out more and more stories of nonviolent action and learning more about it."
With two sessions already concluded, Ridd says she hopes that people leave hopeful, inspired, and ready to act.
More information and registration for the remaining Living Resistance workshops can be found here.
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