Hunger For Power and Order: Nonviolent Direct Action By A Bolivian Leader, 1956 and 1984

Many who study nonviolence argue that, in order to be successful, violence must avoided at all costs. Most studies of nonviolence assume that the user is a dissenter. We argue that nonviolent direct action changes target, goal, function and dynamics when adopted by leaders. We test our argument on two remarkably similar cases almost thirty years apart, with very different outcomes. In Bolivia in 1956 and 1984, the same form of nonviolent direct action (hunger strikes) occurred within the same country, employed by the same leader, under similar political-economic contexts. We find that nonviolence plays a different tactical role when adopted by leaders. Leaders use nonviolent direct action to activate supporters and entrench the status quo, but only after first re-establishing order. Tactics created by one set of actors function entirely differently in the hands of another. This has wider implications for the study of leadership, governance, peace and conflict resolution.