2018 Nashville Institute

James Lawson Institute, Nashville 2018 Program

 

Day 1: Nashville, Thursday, March 15, 2018 (half day)

“A Force More Powerful”: Basics of Nonviolent Power

Institute Facilitators: Paulina Gonzalez and Jeff Ordower

 

3:00 p.m. Program opens

3:00 p.m. Welcome: Paulina Gonzalez and Jeff Ordower

Introduction of Mary King (Hardy Merriman)

3:15 p.m.          Stories of ourselves in small groups (self-introductions of participants)

(Paulina Gonzalez and Jeff Ordower facilitating)

4:15 p.m. Overview of program and goals (Mary King)

4:30 p.m. Welcoming group session (introduction of presenters and adjunct presenters)

4:30 – 5:00 p.m. Issues or predicaments that we bring with us

(Presenter: Philippe Duhamel and Daniel Wayne Lee facilitating)

5:00 – 5: 30 p.m. How shall we maximize our learning opportunities at JLI?

(Paulina Gonzalez and Jeff Ordower facilitating)

(Optional break for anyone not yet in his or her room)

5:30 – 6:30 p.m. Dinner

6:40 p.m. View 30-minute film “Nashville”

7:10 p.m. Small-group breakout discussions of film

Assisted by adjunct presenters and facilitators

7:40 p.m. Report-back to plenary

8:00 p.m. Remarks: The Reverend Dr. James M. Lawson

Historical perspective of the Nashville story (followed by Q&A)



Day 2, Friday, March 16: Reclaiming our Chronicle of Nonviolent Power

7:30 – 8:30 a.m. Breakfast

By emphasizing the War of Independence as the origin of the United States, we disregard nonviolent struggles of historical significance in building our nation

9:00 – 9:15 a.m. Case: William Penn’s 1683 Great Treaty with the Delaware Indians

(Presenter: Mary King)

9:15 – 9:30 a.m. Q&A

9:30 – 9:45 a.m. Case: Black abolitionists and resistance under slavery

(Adjunct Presenter: Katrina Rogers)

9:45 – 10:00 a.m. Q&A

10:00 – 10:15 a.m. Break

10:15 – 11:00 a.m. Case: Reconsidering the struggle for independence, 1765–1775

(Presenter: Hardy Merriman)

11:00 – 11:30 a.m. Q&A

11:30 – 12:30 p.m. Lunch

12:30 – 1:00 p.m. Stories of ourselves (a new set of small groups shares their stories)

Learning from Gandhi’s Constructive Program — alternative, or parallel, institutions

1:00 – 1:30 p.m. Case: Building movement in terror-ridden Mississippi

(Presenter: Mary King)

1:30 – 2:00 p.m. Plenary discussion

2:00 – 2:30 p.m. Break

2:30 – 3:00 p.m. Case: Learning from Occupy Wall Street

(Adjunct Presenter: Jeff Ordower)

3:00 – 3:30 p.m. Plenary discussion

5:30 – 6:30 p.m. Dinner

7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. “South Africa” film followed by discussion, or program suggested by

participants



Day 3, Saturday, March 17: New Insights into Effectiveness

7:30 – 8:30 a.m. Breakfast

Strategy, Tactics, and Methods

(Presenters: Hardy Merriman and Mary King)

9:00 – 9:30 a.m. Planning strategy and tactics

9:30 –10:00 a.m. Nonviolent methods

10:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. Break

10:15 – 11:30 a.m. Plenary exercise: Sequencing and ordering methods

(Presenters: Philippe Duhamel and Mary King)

11:30 – 12:30 p.m. Lunch

12:30 – 1:00 p.m. Stories of ourselves (a new set of small groups shares their stories)

1:00 – 1:45 p.m. Human agency and civil resistance

(Presenter: Erica Chenoweth)

1:45 – 2:30 p.m. Plenary discussion

2:30 – 2:45 p.m. Break

Community Resilience

2:45 – 3:30 p.m. Panel discussion: Doing power research

Erica Chenoweth, Tom Hastings, Katrina Rogers, Stephen Zunes

(Moderated by Daniel Wayne Lee, Adjunct Presenter)

3:30 – 3:45 p.m. Break

National, regional, and local alliances often break down, whatever their purposes

3:45 – 4:15 p.m. Sustainable alliances

(Presenter: Philippe Duhamel)

4:15 – 4: 30 p.m. Affinity groups

(Presenter: Stephen Zunes)

4:30 – 4:45 p.m. Small breakout groups assisted by adjunct presenters flow into break  

4:45 – 5:00 p.m. Break

5:30 – 6:30 p.m. Dinner

7:00 – 8:30 p.m. “Poland” film followed by discussion, or program suggested by participants 

Day 4, Sunday, March 18: Challenges and Strategies

7:30 – 8:30 a.m. Breakfast

The women’s suffrage movement of the first two decades of the 20th century was perhaps the most remarkable transnational movement of the modern age. – Fred Halliday

9:00 – 9:45 a.m. Overview — Women and civil resistance

(Presenters: Mary King, Erica Chenoweth, Katrina Rogers)

9:45 – 10:15 a.m. Plenary discussion

10:15 – 10:30 a.m. Break

Reprisals may signal success

10:30 – 11:00 a.m. The paradox of repression

(Presenter: Erica Chenoweth)

11:00 – 11:15 a.m. Overcoming fear

(Adjunct Presenter: Jeff Ordower)

11:15 – 11:30 a.m. Q&A

11:30 – 12:30 p.m. Lunch

12:30 – 1:00 p.m. Stories of ourselves (a new set of small groups shares their stories)

So-Called Respect for Diversity of Tactics

1:00 – 1:30 p.m. Facing poorly understood threats to effective nonviolent action

(Presenter: Philippe Duhamel)

1:30 –2:15 p.m. Small breakout group exercises (assisted by adjunct presenters)

2:15 – 2:30 p.m. Break

Nonviolent discipline in facing direct opposition

2:30 – 3:00 p.m. Nonviolent discipline and preparation for handling hostile actors

(Presenter: Tom Hastings)

3:00 – 3:30 p.m. Small group exercises: meetings, negotiations, on-site keeping the peace

3:30 – 3:45 p.m. Break

Challenging Militarism

3:45 – 4:15 p.m. Clamshell Alliance (Presenter: Stephen Zunes)

4:15 – 4:45 p.m. Plenary Discussion

4:45 – 5:30 p.m. Informal pause before dinner

5:30 – 6:30 p.m. Dinner

7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. “Chile” film followed by discussion, or program suggested by participants

Day 5, Monday, March 19 (half day): Sharing and Collaborating in Future Struggles

7:30 – 8:30 a.m. Breakfast

Communications and Working with Words

8:45 – 9:15 a.m. Messaging and slogans for effectiveness and results

(Presenter: Deborah Mathis)

9:15 – 9:30 a.m. Words as tools for social change

(Adjunct Presenter: Katrina Rogers)

9:30 – 10:00 a.m. Small breakout group exercises and report back to plenary

10:00 – 10:15 a.m. Break

The language and values of the Preamble to the

Declaration of Independence are ours to use

“Language of the newly emerging society” Closing panel and plenary

10:15 – 11:30 a.m. Panel discussion followed by plenary discussion

The Reverend Dr. Lawson, Erica Chenoweth, James Hayes, Mary King,

Deborah Mathis, Hardy Merriman, Katrina Rogers, Tom Hastings, Stephen Zunes

(Moderated by Paulina Gonzalez and Jeff Ordower)

11:30 a.m. Assemble in dining hall: group photograph

11:30 – 1:00 p.m. Parting lunch