Blueprint for Revolution: How to Use Rice Pudding, Lego Men, and Other Nonviolent Techniques to Galvanize Communities, Overthrow Dictators, or Simply Change the World

by Srdja Popovic, Matthew Miller

An urgent and accessible handbook for peaceful protesters, activists, and community organizers—anyone trying to defend their rights, hold their government accountable, or change the world Blueprint for Revolution will teach you how to • make oppression backfire by playing your opponents’ strongest card against them • identify the “almighty pillars of power” in order to shift the balance of control • dream big, but start learn how to pick battles you can win • listen to what people actually care about in order to incorporate their needs into your revolutionary vision • master the art of compromise to bring together even the most disparate groups • recognize your allies and view your enemies as potential partners • use humor to make yourself heard, defuse potentially violent situations, and “laugh your way to victory” Praise for Blueprint for Revolution“The title is no exaggeration. Otpor’s methods . . . have been adopted by democracy movements around the world. The Egyptian opposition used them to topple Hosni Mubarak. In Lebanon, the Serbs helped the Cedar Revolution extricate the country from Syrian control. In Maldives, their methods were the key to overthrowing a dictator who had held power for thirty years. In many other countries, people have used what Canvas teaches to accomplish other political goals, such as fighting corruption or protecting the environment.”—The New York Times“A clear, well-constructed, and easily applicable set of principles for any David facing any Goliath (sans slingshot, of course) . . . By the end of Blueprint, the idea that a punch is no match for a punch line feels like anything but a joke.”—The Boston Globe“An entertaining primer on the theory and practice of peaceful protest.”—The Guardian “With this wonderful book, Srdja Popovic is inspiring ordinary people facing injustice and oppression to use this tool kit to challenge their oppressors and create something much better. When I was growing up, we dreamed that young people could bring down those who misused their power and create a more just and democratic society. For Srdja Popovic, living in Belgrade in 1998, this same dream was potentially a much more dangerous idea. But with an extraordinarily courageous group of students that formed Otpor!, Srdja used imagination, invention, cunning, and lots of humor to create a movement that not only succeeded in toppling the brutal dictator Slobodan Milošević but has become a blueprint for nonviolent revolution around the world. Srdja rules!”—Peter Gabriel   “Blueprint for Revolution is not only a spirited guide to changing the world but a breakthrough in the annals of advice for those who seek justice and democracy. It asks (and not heavy-handedly): As long as you want to change the world, why not do it joyfully? It’s not just funny. It’s seriously funny. No joke.”—Todd Gitlin, author of The Sixties and Occupy Nation

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, Activism, History, Society, Sociology, Social Justice

306 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 13, 2015

About the author

Srdja Popovic is a Serbian political activist and executive director of the Centre for Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategies (CANVAS). He was a leader of the student movement Otpor!, which helped topple Serbian president Slobodan Milošević. He has taught at the Harvard Kennedy School, NYU, and the University of Colorado, among others. He lives in Belgrade.

Reviews

[Quinton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to start a revolution after reading this book. Now I just need to find the right cause...

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this from a goodreads giveaway. I was a little put off by the overly long and cheesy title, but I'm glad I read it. The author was part of a Serbian protest movement that used non-violent resistance to oust Slobodan Milosevic from power. It was good to learn about movements in parts of the world that are ignored by the American media. There were lots of anecdotes about well known leaders like Ghandi and Mandela and others that I hadn't heard of previously that had similar success in their own countries. The stories were fun but were just a backdrop for an outline on how to overcome oppression without resorting to violence. There are examples of what works, like in Serbia, and what doesn't, like Occupy Wall Street. What I enjoyed most was that it was a fun book. Most political books are all gloom and doom, but this was was very positive and funny. I like laughtivism.

[Mohsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

این کتاب پر از روایت‌های زنده و عینی درباره‌ی قدرت تظاهرات مسالمت‌آمیز برای ایجاد تغییرات بزرگ توی جوامع دیکتاتوری است.
کتاب با نثر ساده به توضیح مبارزات مسالمت‌آمیز در کشورهای مختلف مثل هند ،لهستان، صربستان، مصر، سوریه و ایران (سال ۸۸) می‌پردازه
سردیا پوپویچ توی این کتاب خیلی از ابهامات و بدفهمی‌ها درباره‌ی مبارزه‌ی بی‌خشونت رو به خوبی توضیح می‌ده
خوندن این کتاب رو به همه‌ی دوستان پیشنهاد می‌کنم، با خوندنش می‌تونیم چرایی به جواب نرسیدن اعتراضات مردمی توی چند ماه گذشته رو بفهمیم و راه حل درست پیش بردن اعتراضات رو هم یاد بگیریم
کتاب رو می‌تونید از لینک زیر دریافت کنید

https://t.me/mhbook/350

[Jake · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is an important book. However, it should be read as a memoir of Popovic's experience and not as a serious book of global politics. This is because he often get's information wrong about the situation in particular countries.

HIs writing on how to carry out successful and inspiring action is brilliant. He looks at how to bring together movements that are diverse, funny and focused. If you are an activist of any type this book will hold lot's of important information and examples.

He does, however, approach the issues with a very particular lens, democracy. There is no issue with this per se, but one must always remember that democracy is not a political ideology and looks very different in different contexts. This leads him to make some basic mistakes, for example describing Higo Chavez as a dictator. While Hugo Chavez is not to everyone's taste, he was not a dictator. He did look to extend his power and his term but these were rejected and approved respectively by national referenda. Not particularly dictator-y, look elsewhere to Rwanda where someone like Kagame wins referenda on constitutional matters with implausible margins.

It seems to me that there is naivety about the nature of international politics which underlies this book, so that where he says about those on the 'far left' (whatever that means), to 'these ladies and gentlemen it's always the CIA, the NSA, the WTO... these types have called CANVAS and yours truly and American stooge, a tool of George Soros...' it seems that maybe his painting of figures like Chavez and approach to democracy as a universal ideal mean some see him as part of the Western proselytizing machine for Democratic Neo-Liberalism that has seen forced democratisation a condition of structural adjustment programmes mandated by the World Bank and IMF. This is not to deny that there are crackpots everywhere in politics that do look to conspiracy theories. His failure to recognise how democratisation narratives often go hand in hand with US economic power makes me wonder why they were calling him names and if there is some justification.
It is also worth mentioning here that many of the dictators of the world are actually supported by the CIA, or work closely with the Bretton Woods Institutions. Their history of involvement in coups, revolutions and civil wars is long and many other examples continue to not be known to the public. This involvement is not limited to niche conspiracy theories but can be found in popular history books written by people from across the political spectrum such as Congo: The Epic History of a People, The Divide: A Brief Guide to Global Inequality and its Solutions and Lords of the Desert: Britain's Struggle with America to Dominate the Middle East. I think he is naive to this, but I could see why others in heated localized political discussion in the Global South could see a Western outsider encouraging change as a Western plant.

This naivety also plays out in the who he categorises as good and bad. He talks about Anna Hazare, an Indian social activist, and there is nothing wrong with this, but it seems strange that a man whose book and career is so wrapped up in democratization he should mention the controversies around Hazare allegedly stopping people participating in local elections and problematic attitudes to the so called 'backwards caste's'. These criticisms have come from so very eminent thinkers including Ramachandra Guha who wrote the go to text on Indian democracy, India After Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy.

It also seems ridiculous that he paints the Maldives as a country where the only issue is the dictator. This seems disingenuous to a country whose very existence is threatened by climate change, economy is threatened by biodiversity loss and 15% of the population live below the poverty line(CIA Factbook).

It is also worth noting that the London Olympics were in 2012, not 2010 as is stated in the edition of the book I read.

The book is still worth reading, I read it for tips on activism and I got many.

[inès · Rating 2 out of 5]

Globalement, j’ai bien aimé ce livre. Je l’ai clairement acheté à cause de son titre très attirant et je suis contente de l’avoir lu. L’écriture facile le rendait ludique à lire et j’ai beaucoup aimé la diversification des exemples de l’auteur. Ça m’a permis d’en apprendre plus sur des événements/mouvements historiques que je ne connaissais pas du tout, comme Otpor!, la dictature aux Maldives ou encore la révolution des jouets en Russie. J’ai beaucoup aimé l’accent que Popovic a mis sur l’importance de l’humour et des gens ordinaires dans l’activisme.

Néanmoins, il reste très critiquable sur certains points. Déjà, la vision des femmes véhiculée par le livre (on voyait clairement que l’auteur était un homme quoi…). J’aurais aimé avoir des exemples de figures féminines historiques clefs, pas seulement des sortes de cruches qui sortent grandies de leur conversation avec l’auteur :/ Pareil en ce qui concerne les personnes racisées. Un point de vue féministe et décolonial manque pour moi cruellement à ce livre. Aussi, je trouve que Popovic aurait pu apporter une critique de la démocratie libérale, car il la présente vraiment comme l’idéal vers lequel toutes les sociétés devraient tendre sans évoquer ses travers ni le fait que le modèle occidental n’est en rien supérieur à d’autres perspectives potentielles.

Bref ! J’ai bien aimé ce livre même si, conformément à mes craintes du début de ma lecture, il se transformait parfois en bouquin de développement personnel d’un homme blanc soixante-huitard.

[Clara Biesel · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want a fantastic book about bringing about nonviolent change, this is it. It's not just useful and excellent, it's really funny.

[Kevin Wood · Rating 3 out of 5]

به همه‌ی عجول‌ها و ناصبوران و خسته شدیم کی به زندگی عادی برگردیم‌ها، این کتاب رو پیشنهاد می‌دم بخونن که بفهمن هیچ انقلابی یه شبه اتفاق نیفتاده. بلکه پشتش ماه‌ها و سال‌ها تلاش و برنامه‌ریزی بوده، و خیلی اوقات اشتباه و دلسردی. با بیرون رفتن اینا کار تموم نمی‌شه و تازه شروعشه و بنابراین باید همین اتحاد حفظ بشه که گروه‌های سوء‌استفاده‌گر از موقعیت برای تصرف حکومت و ایجاد دیکتاتوری جدید استفاده نکنن.



من هم مثل افرادی که برای بار اول با نویسنده ملاقات داشتن فکر نمی‌کنم با روش‌های تماما مسالمت‌آمیز، توی کشورمون انقلابی رخ بده.
▪ ️چون ما بارها با طنز، مشکلات و سیاهی‌های حاکم رو دست‌مایه‌ی خنده قرار دادیم اما دیدیم حاکمیت پر رو تر از این حرف‌ها بود.
▪ ️بارها مسالمت‌آمیز اعتراض کردیم، اما جوابش گلوله و باتوم بود‌.

▪ ️و اما چیزهایی که امتحان نکردیم ولی الان شروعش کردیم اتحاده. این که باید موضوع و شعار جوری انتخاب بشه که دغدغه‌ی همه باشه و همه‌ی قشرهای جامعه رو متحد کنه.
پس اگه می‌بینید جنبشی که شروع کردید همه رو درگیر و همراه نمی‌کنه، باید یه پله عقب برید و ببینید چه مشکلی برای همه‌ی افراد جامعه یکسانه و شعارتون رو بر اساس اون تنظیم کنید.

▪️ باید بدونید هدف و آینده‌ی جنبش‌تون قراره چی باشه.
▪️ مسلما یکی از مهمترین فاکتورها برنامه‌ریزی و زمان‌بندیه.
▪ ️و این کارها رو تنهایی نمی‌شه انجام داد. باید همکاری و اتاق فکر داشت.
▪ ️باید ارکان قدرت شناسایی بشن. یعنی این‌که چه چیزی باعث شده دیکتاتور سر قدرت بشینه و ادامه بده؟ مهم‌ترین عامل پوله. درآمدش از کجاست؟ خب توی کشور ما یه عالمه نفت و گاز و معدن هست. چه چیزی درآمد رو کم و فلج می‌کنه؟ اعتصاب سراسری. که می‌شه گفت بعد اتحاد مهمترین فاکتوره.
▪ ️مورد بعدی شناسایی سرکوب و معکوس کردنشه که می‌شه گفت توی اون هم این سری خوب کار شده. و همچنین شناسایی عاملان تفرقه و نیفتادن توی دام اون‌ها.
می‌خوام جنگ روانی رو هم توی همین بند قرار بدم چون اونم یه نوع سرکوبه.
▪ ️باید روی پاهای خودمون بایستیم و به کسی متکی نباشیم. هیچ منجی‌ای برای ما ظاهر نمی‌شه. بیشتر جنبش‌ها رو افراد معمولی انجام دادن.
▪ ️باید کاری رو که شروع کردیم به سرانجام برسونیم. این خیلی مهمه.

تقریبا مهم‌ها رو گفتم، دیگه بقیه‌‌شو خودتون بخونید چون پر از مثاله.

و در آخر باید بگم من هم مثل خیلی‌ها نه از سیاست چیزی می‌دونم و نه مطالعات زیادی داشته‌م، ولی این کتاب باعث شد که علاقمند بشم و بخوام بیشتر مطالعه کنم.

[Argos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Güzel bir tesadüf İstanbul’da başladığım kitabı biraz uzun bir sürede Amsterdam’da yani iki farklı demokrasi havasını koklayarak bitirdim. Sırbistan’ın kanlısı Miloseviç’e karşı verdiği mücadele ile bilinen OPTOR’un beyin takımından kendi tanımıyla devrimcilerle birlikte hareket eden bir aktivist. Önerileri sadece şiddetsiz teknikler içeren muhalif hareketler.
Tarihi bilgilerin yanısıra ilginç anektodlarla renklendirdiği kitabında şiddet içermeyen araçlarla baskıcı rejimlerde, diktatörlüklerde, sözde demokrasilerde nasıl davranılması gerektiğini kendi pratiğiyle birlikte anlatıyor.
Kağıt üzerinde kalmayan gerçek demokrasi ile yaşamak isteyenlere bir umut tazeleme kitabı işlevini görüyor. Ben yararlandım, öneririm. Tabii söylemeye gerek var mı bilmem ama bu bir edebi yapıt değil, belki bir uzun öykü veya anı kitabı olarak da okuyabilirsiniz.

[Yoann Negre · Rating 1 out of 5]

Le livre le plus mauvais que j'ai lu. Il devrait s'appeler "Comment baser son idéologie sur des erreurs d'attribution ultimes et des lacunes".

Avant toute chose, je veux clarifier un point. Ma critique n'est pas sur l'idéologie de la non violence, en effet, même si j'ai pas aimé non plus "Les gouvernements sont corrompus" de Léon Tolstoï, ce dernier a au moins le mérite de ne pas être un menteur et un manipulateur, ce qu'est Popovic. Tolstoï est non violent car il est chrétien avant toute chose, ce que je peux comprendre pour le minimum de respect que je peux avoir envers les religions. Pour Popovic là par contre...

Pour commencer, tout son discours sur Gandhi et King est faux. D'une part parce que Gandhi était du côté de la violence quand il fallait enrôler des indiens pour se battre pour les britanniques en Afrique du Sud, il a même eu une médaille de guerre pour cela. Et King a déclaré dans une interview en 67 qu'il était pour la diversité des tactiques, ce qui passe par la non violence et la violence.

De plus, croire que la victoire de Gandhi est du fait de ce dernier est un mensonge. La réussite de l'Inde contre les britanniques tient de deux choses : 1. Les millions de mort de l'armée Britannique au Moyen-Orient contre les pays qui se soulevaient, mine de rien, ça fragilise l'impérialisme. 2. La lutte armée en Inde, parce que Gandhi ne représentait pas toute l'Inde, quand il a été emprisonné pour la deuxième fois, tout le monde était passé à autre chose. Et pareil pour Luther King, c'est oublier l'impact de Malcolm X et des mouvements armés noirs qui allaient se battre contre la police pour protéger les populations noires.

Autre mensonge, Popovic base sa légitimité sur la réussite qu'il aurait eu avec Otpor pour faire tomber Milosevic pendant les guerres de Yougoslavie, c'est évidemment faux. Ce sont les interventions armées de l'OTAN qui ont fait la majorité du travail, sur le sujet, faut lire "L'opinion, ça se travaille..." De Serge Halimi, où il montre comment l'impérialisme américain (qui ont participé à la fondation de l'Otpor d'ailleurs) était bien placé dans ce conflit.

On comprend ici le problème de Popovic, l'erreur d'attribution ultime, il ignore complètement les causes externes à "ses" réussites, ou du moins à celles de son idéologie non violente, et surestime les causes internes, donc ses propres actions. Et les lacunes du contexte géopolitique dans lesquels s'inscrivent les évènements.

Voilà, ça c'est pour la base sur lequel repose l'ensemble du raisonnement de Popovic, on va pouvoir aller dans quelque chose de plus doux.

Il se contredit énormément, disant dans le titre que l'on peut faire tomber un dictateur seul, mais où tous les exemples qu'il donne de "réussite" reposent sur une participation élevée de personnes ou sur la notoriété d'un individu. Il cite par exemple un Israélien qui a réussi à mieux fournir du cottage au pays grâce à la mobilisation via sa page Facebook. Sauf que du coup, c'est pas une réussite "seul", c'est une réussite due à un concours de circonstance collectif, parce que l'événement qui suit, à savoir le même style de mobilisation contre la flambée des prix, elle n'a mené à rien. Parce que même si je peux être d'accord sur l'intérêt des petits combats pour s'échauffer, c'était absolument rien comme combat, c'est du fromage, tu rends pas la société meilleure parce que plus de personnes ont accès au fromage.

Autre contradiction, le fait de dire que l'on peut y arriver "tout petit" alors que les échecs de la non violence qu'il montre sont expliquées par un manque de moyens. Et c'est logique, la non violence est, comme le vote, un moyen de lutte qui est à utiliser par des personnes qui ont des choses à perdre, pour éviter les procès en radicalité, donc plutôt des fractions relativement privilégiées de la société. En parlant des erreurs de la non violence, il en parle beaucoup mais sans en parler. Il évoque les échecs des révolutions de couleur dans les pays arabes comme base de réflexion pour Occupy. Mais du coup ça veut dire que ces mouvements non Violents ont été des échecs, et donc qu'il faudrait surtout faire évoluer la méthode. Il est drôle de voir qu'il prétend vouloir être ouvert d'esprit mais qu'il impose un sectarisme autour de la non violence et un vocabulaire négatif dès qu'il est question de l'utilisation de la violence. Là où des gens comme Gelderloos prône la diversité des tactiques justement pour s'adapter à toutes les contraintes possibles.

Il parle de l'humour comme arme, en illustrant son propos avec Poutine qui aurait été déstabilisé par des caricatures. D'accord mdr. Je suis convaincu là.

De manière générale, le livre a peu de références bibliographiques, ce qui est un défaut quand on parle d'un sujet militant aussi important, il y a plus de référence à la pop culture que d'ouvrages à portée scientifique, c'est très désagréable. Et surtout, mais je lui en tiens pas forcément rigueur, mais il cite l'étude sur la réussite de la non violence, que Gelderloos démonte dans "L'échec de la non violence", soulignant les erreurs méthodologiques, comme le simple fait que l'échantillon est biaisé par ce qui est accessible aux chercheurs. Mais aussi du fait que ces réussites n'en sont pas, vu qu'elles n'ont été que très temporaires ou n'ont été que morales. J'en tiens peu rigueur à Popovic parce que checker les méthodologies d'articles, ça ne doit pas être dans ses capacités et ça se comprend, c'est un métier.

Donc pour résumer, peu de bibliographie, et quand il y en a, elle est peu pertinente voire douteuse, des lacunes géopolitiques considérables sur les évènements qui sont traités, une surestimation de ses capacités et des contradictions régulières. Je ne recommande absolument pas ce livre. Cela fut 7,30€ de gaspillés, et 324 pages de gaspillées qui auraient pu l'être pour d'autres œuvres.

[Kuszma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nem, nem szakkönyv. Egyszerűen Szrgya* megpróbálja nekünk eladni az erőszakmentes ellenállást – pont úgy, mint egy ivójoghurtot vagy egy doboz mosóport. ("Erőszakmentes ellenállás! Még a legmakacsabb diktátort is eltünteti!") Nincs ezzel semmi baj, a szerző jól látja, a rossz kormányokat nem filozófusok fogják megdönteni (és – fogd be a füled, Platón! – irányítani sem), hanem akkor már inkább a marketingszakemberek, akik képesek úgy felépíteni egy mozgalom brandjét, ahogy azt a Marlbolo vagy a Coca Cola tenné. Úgyhogy ha elhisszük, hogy itt nem egy késkészletet akarnak ránk sózni (bevallom, ez nekem sem mindig sikerült), akkor rendben lesz a könyv.

Egyfelől azért, mert Szrgya valóban az erőszakmentes mozgalmárok doyenje. Az Otpor!-ral nem kis szerepe volt Milosevic hatalmának aláásásában, és a CANVAS egyik előadójaként azóta is mindent megtesz az erőszakmentes mozgalmak koordinálásáért. (Ez olyasmi, amitől Soros György nevetni szokott. Bizony.) Másfelől önsegítő könyvekre emlékeztető lendületes, populáris nyelvhasználat** ide vagy oda, Szrgya szerb csávó, aki végig tisztában van vele, hogy itt nem az idealista amcsi egyetemistákat kell meggyőznie, hanem a magunkfajta cinikus balkániakat – következésképpen a legtöbb várható ellenvetésünkre megvan a válasza. Úgyhogy akad ebben a könyvben számos igencsak hasznos dolog a jövő békés forradalmárjai számára – nem csak vicces vagy lélekemelő anekdoták, ügyes gyakorlati javaslatok és megfontolandó figyelmeztetések, de helyenként olyan megközelítések is, amelyek alapvető szemléletváltást okozhatnak. Én a magam részéről jobban örültem volna, ha kevesebb rizsa köríti őket, és bizonyos felvetésekhez több gyakorlati példát mellékelnek a szerzők (mondjuk az egységes ernyőszervezet létrehozásának mikéntjéhez), de azért összességében olvasásra érdemes könyvecske, hasznos tanácsokkal, mielőtt felmászunk a barikádra.

Mit is mondhatnék még? Csak annyit, hogy legyél te az a hobbit, aki elviszi a Gyűrűt a Végzet-katlanba!

* Tegezem, mert ő is tegez. Jó, hát egy forradalmár csak nem áll le magázódni, nem igaz? Meg aztán ez a Szrgya sokkal jobban hangzik, mint a Popovics, valljuk meg.
** Nem tudom, ez a nyelvezet mennyire köszönhető a társszerzőnek, Matthew Millernek, de el tudom képzelni, hogy nagyon.

[Sleepless Dreamer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a ray of light for me in a sea of frustration and anger. How could you do this to me, Israeli politics? Review to come

[Amir · Rating 4 out of 5]

اطلاعاتی که از کتاب گرفتم بخش عظیمیش برام جدید بود چراکه یه مقدار زیادیش تو دوران جهالت عمیقم اتفاق افتاد و من قضایا رو برعکس میدونستم. بخشی ازش رو هم کاملا بی‌اطلاع بودم. پوپویچ طرفدار جنبش‌های مسالمت‌آمیزه، آموزه‌های زیبایی داره و اساس حرفاش علمی و تجربه شده‌اس. البته که قرار نیست هرکسی بعد از خوندن این کتاب یک کشور رو به تنهایی درست کنه بلکه اون بینشی که لابلای کلماتش هست یه آپدیت جدیده واسه نگاهی که به زندگی و وقایع اطرافش میشه داشت.
هرچند باید بگم که مثل تمام کسانی که با پوپویچ دیدار داشتن من هم ته دلم یه بخش تاریکی دارم که معتقدم «اینجا صربستان نیست و اینطوری نمیشه.» ولی جا برای فکر کردن بهش باز میذارم.

[Magdelanye · Rating 5 out of 5]

its unrealistic to expect people to care about more than what they already care about, and any attempt to do so is bound to fail. p45
It's sad to realize how much of modern life is designed to lull us into being comfortably numb; we're expected to go about doing what we're told because it's easy. p248

All oppression relies on fear in order to be effective....But the ultimate point of all this fear is not merely to make you afraid.....Instead it wants you to obey. And when it comes down to it, whether or not you obey is always your choice. p130

From one of the guys who helped topple the entrenched dictator Milosovic back in the day, comes this succinct, lucid, and dare I say hopeful and inspiring little book bristling with personal anecdotes and encouraging words on strategy and tactics, effective and less so. Sadly, the recipe for the delicious rice pudding was not included in my edition, but SP has given here a recipe for a kinder, slower, more fun kind of social change.

humor doesn't just make you chuckle- it makes you think. p100

Analysis without rhetoric; social change without slaughtering the opposition, SP gets to the heart of resistance to change.

Most people think that a person with a weapon gets shit done, and yet when it comes to social change it's often the person with the gun who fails most miserably. p199

SP's commitment to non-violent action includes a welcome shift " away from anger resentment and rage and towards a more powerful form of activism rooted in fun....Laughtivists ...are no longer marginal" p123

While the list of names he drops is probably as extensive as the names he protects, SP remains the same modest, steadfast guy he was when he and a few of his college friends realized that they couldn't just sit by and ignore what was going on. It had to stop. Thanks to their efforts, enough people agreed with them that it did.

[Verba Non Res · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fines de los años 90, Srđa Popović se convirtió en uno de los jóvenes líderes de Otpor! (¡Resistencia!), una agrupación política serbia que se oponía por medios no violentos al dictador Slobodan Milošević. Lo métodos no tradicionales y las campañas altamente marketineras de Otpor! fueron el golpe de gracia para el moribundo régimen de Milošević, que debió dejar el poder en 2000. A posteriori, los miembros de la organización siguieron con su vida, y en algunos casos se incorporaron al nuevo sistema de partidos serbio. Srđa Popović, por su parte, dio con el lucrativo filón de compartir sus experiencias y asesorar a otros jóvenes activistas alrededor del mundo. Blueprint for Revolution, es el súmmum de sus enseñanzas.

No desmerezco a Popović por haber convertido a la revolución en un negocio, siendo que (a) de algo hay que vivir, y (b) este negocio ha sido de ayuda para muchos movimientos no violentos, incluyendo, en parte, a la Primavera Árabe. Blueprint for Revolution me parece una lectura valiosa para todo aspirante a activista moderno.

Como No, la película chilena de 2012, muestra la importancia de que incluso la política de ideales más nobles incorpore una visión publicitaria. No basta con tener un mensaje poderoso, o siquiera verdadero, para llegar al corazón de las masas. Es más importante saber seducirlas, en incluso entretenerlas, con grandes campañas simbólicas y con atacazos artísticos.

Dicho esto, la propuesta de Popović tiene todos los límites de cualquier programa basado en la no violencia. Sus métodos resultarán efectivos siempre y cuando los dictadores en cuestión no estén dispuestos, o no sean capaces, de responder a ellos en forma brutal. La dictadura de Milošević fue famosamente sanguinaria, pero sus víctimas fueron principalmente ciudadanos bosnios. Los serbios, como Popović y compañía, tenían evidentemente una mayor libertad de acción. Agreguemos, además, que el contexto –y el financiamiento estadounidense- los favorecían. Allí donde falten estos factores, su metodología no será igual de eficiente.

Blueprint for Revolution servirá como guía para entornos solo parcialmente autoritarios, como la Rusia de Putin y la Venezuela de Maduro, pero es probable que no tenga mucho para aportarles a los rebeldes norcoreanos o a los chinos.

[Melanie H · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars:

Whether you are starting a revolution or just trying to create a new marketing campaign, many of us have come up against the complaint "that won't work here." Popovic is here to convince you otherwise. This is a surprisingly practical book with real-world advice on how you can change the world (or at least your community). Non-violence works because a small rag tag group of revolutionaries will never defeat military might but if you can attack them with humor, you've got them. And if you're dubious and thinking that won't work here, Popovic has the data to back this up.

In this dark time period, this gives me hope. Now, let's get out there and #resist with wild absurdity.

[Jim]

learned about the Otpor! movement in the Originals book.

More is found here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otpor!

[Christina Patches · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pros: This book contains some great ideas and stories that could be modified to serve God's kingdom. The focus of the book is how to form an effective nonviolent movement to overthrow oppressive regimes. Some of his strategies could be used to create movements in society outside of politics.
Cons: There is an unfortunate amount of crude language. The book is written at a popular level and can seem overly simplistic at times.

[Kim Stallwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

I heard the author interviewed one Monday morning on BBC Radio 4's Start the Week program. Surge Popovic sounded interesting and his book's title, Blueprint for Revolution, made me go out and buy it. The book has a co-author: 'and Matthew Miller.' One gets the sense that this is Miller's book after having some conversations with Popovic. The style of writing is conversational, anecdotal, and not too challenging.

There's not much theory or history but lots of chat about his work, realisations, lessons learnt, and whimsy comparisons. The books subtitle is 'how to use rice pudding, lego men, and other non-violent techniques to galvanize communities, over-throw dictators, or simply change the world.' You get the picture. There's a sentimentalism to it all that's a bit too cloying to me.

Don't get me wrong. Popovic is a, er, revolutionary. He's been involved with more than his fair share of, er, revolutions. Plus he teaches the stuff. But I'm unsure as to how much anyone can learn from this book. Which is a shame. It's worth reading, though. There are some important insights and nuggets to savour. Take this:

'Believing that change can happen to you, dreaming big and starting small, having a vision of tomorrow, practising laughtivism, and making oppression backfire: these are the foundations of every successful nonviolent movement. But like every building, the foundations aren't enough. Unless a solid structure is erected slowly and deliberately, the whole thing is likely to collapse. And the first thing you need for a house to stand united is for everyone to work in unity.' (p. 150)

Of course, I read this book while thinking about the animal rights movement. And here's one quote that made me pause:

'Movements are living things, and unless unity is planned for and worked at, it's never going to materialise on its own. And that's why it's important to make your movement relatable to the widest number of people at all times.' (p. 167)

So, will this book make you a revolutionary? Probably not. But it will make you think about whether you could be a better revolutionary. Yes. And what's so wrong with that?

[Wendel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blueprint for Revolution is a self-help book on the huge scale. Srdja Popovic, part of the non-violent revolutuonaries Otpor!, toppled their dictator and created a democracy in Serbia. Now he is a "non-violent democracy advisor" for hire, and his theories and other non-violent revolutuonary struggles are detailed in this book.

While I usually stay away from these types of books, this story is well written with big pinch of self-mockery. While it goes without saying the author has more than enough authority to write about revolutions and their success, the subject comes across as hugely complicated: hardly something that can be explained in 250-ish pages. It is exactly what this book does well though: it established some good ground rules, backs them up with real-life events that showed the rule working, and then really emphasises that your creativity is the other 90% that's needed.

You don't need to be an aspiring revolutionary to take something out of this book. It talks about what really makes social change work, and how simple things (community, (brand) image, planning, having a goal) go a long way. I'd go as far as saying this book can be applied to designing any social intervention, non-revolutionary included. The book would do well to rename to; how to make social change easy (10 step program). But that wouldn't sell well, I know.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

No one with even a touch of humanity could gainsay the courage, creativity or tenacity of the author and those allied with him in opposing Milosevic's murderous regime in Serbia. Milosevic was accused of 66 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo between 1991 and 1999 but died before he could be tried in the Hague. His colleague Radovan Karadžić was convicted of genocide over the 1995 massacre of over 8,000 men and boys in Srebrenica, a place name that has become shorthand for unspeakable atrocities inflicted in wartime against civilians. Few would oppose such bloodthirsty opponents and give up the relatively safe anonymity of doing nothing. I doubt if I would.

Unfortunately the author shortchanges himself and his cohorts when he describes their resistance as a successful re-branding of both the government and the organized resistance to it. To one extent this makes sense--Popovic may not want to frighten other potential advocates of non-violent struggle against monolithic rulers--but he makes it seem too clean, too foreordained
and inevitable. There is a lot of room for this kind of approach--but his laconic account wastes much of the edge that should be inevitable here.

[Andrey Chu · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the book is well worth reading for the stories of Otpor and anecdotes, and it has some nice and right ideas, I cannot say it was practically a valuable read even for someone like me who has a good cause to use it for. I cannot fully recommend it for a wannabe revolutionary.
My problem with the practical part of the book is that the useful information it holds including examples could have been summarised in a 5 pages booklet. The handful of valuable ideas are diluted by the examples or personal stories, that don't seem to contribute neither for explanation nor for illustration. In addition to that, the book itself is overly simplistic and unfortunately aims for the lowest common denominator readership in storytelling, practical advice and philosophical ideas.

[Elina T.C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

An easy, witty read full of inspiring stories and tangible advice on following through with peaceful movements. Maybe it’s time to start a revolution of some sort indeed…

[Al · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un livre important historiquement et socialement qui remet en perspective le fatalisme de notre époque… en gros si vous êtes déprimés par l’état du monde actuel, ça vaut le détour :)

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining but also practical book about social movements and what makes them succeed or fail.
p. 23 anybody can start a movement: Lech Walesa was an electrician, Harvey Milk shopkeeper, Jane Jacobs vs. Robert Moses
p.45 People have a lot on their minds, take things one day at a time. "it's unrealistic to expect people to care about more than what they already care about, and any attempt to make them do so is bound to fail. Benjamin Franklin is said to have remarked, 'All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are unmovable, those that are movable, and those that move."
Pull pillars that hold up the powerful towards you to topple. (e.g. markets they rely on, religious pillars of society, etc.)
p. 162-163 Students for a Democratic Society in 1960s = cautionary example. Anti-war movement, decided not to have an organizational structure and fell apart. "Without organizational unity, everything will fall apart. That's one of the few guarantees that I can give you in this book." Yemen ousted dictator but now is paralyzed by bickering. Like airplanes - need someone at the controls or you'll crash, who knows who'll pick up pieces.
p.184 Plan your way to victory with "inverse sequence planning". "The captain who does not know where he wants to go will never find a ship to take him there."
p. 187 "However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results." - Winston Churchill
p. 188 "nonviolence is so much more powerful than violence because it will allow anybody, no matter where they live or how frail they are, to engage the enemy."
Occupy confused a tactic (occupying a public space) with strategy - having reasonable demands and achieving them.
ch. 9 - the Demons of Violence. Nelson Mandela first turned to violence before prison term.
p. 204 win people to your side - you have to be likeable. e.g. Manal al-Sharif - driving videos for women
CANVAS psrdja@gmail.com

[Raegan · Rating 1 out of 5]

-Disclaimer: I won this book for free through goodreads giveaways in exchange for an honest review.-

My first thoughts of this book was: I thought the title was stupid along with the cover.

After thoughts of this book: I still think the title and cover are stupid.

This book was boring, offensive, and not funny at all. The author tried to be funny a couple of times and failed miserably. There is a big difference between funny and stupid. The author writes this book like he is talking to you and only you. It's like: Here take this guide book and go take over the world. Start a revolution. I did not finish this book.

[Zahra Ashouri · Rating 5 out of 5]

هر آدمی - در هر جامعه‌ای و هر شرایطی- اگر دغدغه‌ی تغییر داره، باید این لطف رو در حق خودش کنه و دست‌کم یک بار این کتاب رو بخونه.
کتابی‌ست بسیار روان، دارای روایت‌های جذاب و تکنیک‌های کاربردی برای پیش بردن کنش‌های مسالمت‌آمیز.
کتاب شامل ۱۱ فصله. هر فصل، یک ویژگی اساسیِ کنش مسالمت‌آمیز رو با کلی مثال توضیح میده. ایده‌های کتاب، الهام‌بخش‌اند و حتما شما رو یاد مسائل مشابهی در جامعه‌ی خودتون میندازه🤦 :)
چند صفحه‌ی آخر کتاب یعنی سخن پایانی رو هم از دست ندید لطفاً.
آخرین جمله‌ی کتاب:
«منحنی اخلاق جهانی اگرچه طولانی است اما انحنای آن به سمت عدالت می‌رود.»

[Mohamed Naahil · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of the concepts in the book are most effective against an authoritarian government in my opinion. Nonetheless, the lessons in this book can be drawn for other non-violent resistance campaigns as well.

It uses case studies like the Orange Revolution, the Salt Satyagraha, the Egyptian Revolution and the struggle for democracy in the Maldives (turns out early MDP learned a lot from OTPOR) to explain some fundamental principles that you need for any successful non violent resistance campaign.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A könyv maga egy igen jól megírt, nagyszerű példákkal teletűzdelt iránymutatás. A nyelvezete érthető; minden állampolgár számára hasznos olvasmány lehet, függetlenül attól, hogy hogyan szeretne tenni a közösségéért és egy élhetőbb világért. A magyar fordítás viszont lehangoló, a magyar nyelven nem létező kifejezésektől és furcsa mondatszerkezetektől egészen a könyv tartalmához szorosan kapcsolódó társadalomtudományi szakkifejezések helytelen használatáig. Egy ideig példákat is gyűjtöttem, annyira zavart; nagyon fontos, hogy magyar nyelven is megjelenjenek ilyen könyvek, és nem hiszem el, hogy nem lehetett találni egy olyan embert, aki le tudja jól fordítani ezt az angol (!) nyelven megjelent könyvet. Nem tudom, pontosan ki hibázik ilyenkor, de olyan, mintha lektor sem látta volna ezt a szöveget, mintha senki nem nézte volna át a megjelenés előtt.

[Antoinette Perez]

Pretty fabulous read for those of us who commit to doing our part for social change through nonviolent means. A couple of anecdotes feel too easily explained, but for the most part, the author does a great job of pulling back the curtain on worldwide movements for change, and challenging us to think differently about how we can get there. I also really appreciate his emphasis on taking the long view, and not walking away before the real goals are achieved. I'll probably re-read this one in the future -- it's a pretty solid foundations book, and humorous to boot.

[Gerko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tips voor burgers die op vreedzame wijze de gevestigde orde te lijf willen:

1) Begin met iets kleins.
2) Werk aan je toekomstvisie.
3) Zoek de steunpilaren van het establishment, en schud eraan. Denk aan opinieleiders, religieuze instellingen, bedrijven, media, geldschieters, etc.
4) Maak plezier, gebruik humor!
5) Zorg dat machthebbers te ver gaan en laat ze zichzelf in de voet schieten.
6) Verbind, zorg voor eenheid in je beweging. Voorkom splinterfracties.
7) Spreek een zo breed mogelijk publiek aan (de 99%).
8) Plan vooruit: leg je einddoel vast en plan vanaf daar terug.
9) Preek geweldloosheid. Geweld verliest altijd!
10) Roep kleine overwinningen uit. Alleen door kleine stappen te zetten kom je tot je einddoel.