Otpor

Otpor (resistance) was a student-led Serbian uprising, which led to the overthrow of Serbian dictator Slobodan Milošević in 2000. The Otpor campaign of civil disobedience was carefully planned with assistance from Gene Sharp and his colleagues. Otpor used nonviolent tactics including a long-term consciousness raising effort with graffiti, flyers, billboards, a rock concert, trade union organizing, preparations to combat electoral fraud, and nonviolent direct action including a massive strike.  It ended with a convergence by hundreds of thousands of protestors on the Serbian capitol building.  Based on the actions captured on video the movement was one of strategic nonviolence, rather than principled nonviolence, because the actions were focused on gaining political power and deposing the regime by any nonviolent means necessary rather than winning over the opponent. Otpor led to other similar campaigns in Eastern Europe, such as Ukraine’s Orange Revolution. Uniquely, the leaders of Otpor have formed an organization called CANVAS to export lessons learned in Serbia to other would-be nonviolent revolutionaries.

Resources:

Film:“Bringing Down a Dictator”