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This book explores collective learning in the Gandhian repertoire's transnational diffusion from the Indian independence movement to the American civil rights movement. Instead of focusing primarily on interpersonal linkages or causal mechanisms, it highlights how decades of translation and experimentation by various actors enabled full implementation. It also shows that transnational diffusion was not a linear and predictable process, but underwent numerous twists and turns. It is relevant for contemporary scholars as well as activists

Scholars of nonviolent resistance, in particular, almost exclusively focus on oppositional action against oppressive forces. They pay much less attention to positive dimensions of resistance that allow practitioners to create alternative social relationships and ways of life. As a result, studies on nonviolent resistance tend to take "the colonizer's model of the world" for granted. This article contest the prevailing approach by drawing on Gandhi, on the one hand, and autonomist Marxist and anarchist literature, on the other, to explore decolonizing forms of nonviolent resistance. It argues that Gandhi's "constructive program" and autonomist Marxist thought on "reclaiming the commons" offer tools that are relevant for innovative research on decolonizing nonviolent resistance. And it shows that the Zapatista movement and revolutionary Zapatista women are on the frontlines of experiments with constructive work and autonomous commons in the world today. They demonstrate to scholars as well as activists that revolutionary nonviolence for dignity and self-rule remains possible.

Critical sociologists have long recognized the intersections between love and revolution. For the most part, however, our understanding of love and its relevance for revolution remains vague. My article seeks to remedy this limitation. It starts by sketching the social and personal contexts of alienation, indicating that in today's capitalist world genuine love is revolutionary in itself. It then specifies what love means, what types of love exist, and what revolutionary love implies in theory and practice. The next section introduces the political cultures of loving revolution concept and applies it to the Indian independence movement led by Gandhi. The conclusion discusses how potential revolutionaries might benefit from my interpretation of love and revolution.

Why did American civil rights activists fail to fully implement the Gandhian repertoire before the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 and 1956? How did transnational diffusion of the Gandhian repertoire proceed over time? Classical diffusion theory provides a useful starting point for answering these questions, but it does not fully capture the twists and turns occurring in the transnational diffusion of a collective action repertoire. To account for the non-linear and contingent aspects of transnational diffusion between social movements, this article proposes an alternative theoretical framework and applies it to the case of diffusion between the independence movement in India and the civil rights movement in the United States. The historical case study emphasizes collective reinvention of the Gandhian repertoire by American civil rights networks, instead of critical mass or individual thresholds; and the intergenerational transfer of relevant knowledge and experience from these implementation pioneers to the new generation of civil rights movement activists. Finally, the article examines whether its alternative theoretical framework only applies to this particular instance of transnational diffusion or whether it has more general relevance for social movement theory.

Why did American civil rights activists fail to fully implement the Gandhian repertoire before the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 and 1956? How did transnational diffusion of the Gandhian repertoire proceed over time? Classical diffusion theory provides a useful starting point for answering these questions, but it does not fully capture the twists and turns occurring in the transnational diffusion of a collective action repertoire. To account for the non-linear and contingent aspects of transnational diffusion between social movements, this article proposes an alternative theoretical framework and applies it to the case of diffusion between the independence movement in India and the civil rights movement in the United States. The historical case study emphasizes collective reinvention of the Gandhian repertoire by American civil rights networks, instead of critical mass or individual thresholds; and the intergenerational transfer of relevant knowledge and experience from these implementation pioneers to the new generation of civil rights movement activists. Finally, the article examines whether its alternative theoretical framework only applies to this particular instance of transnational diffusion or whether it has more general relevance for social movement theory. (Mobilization / FUB)

Western scholars dominating the field generally suggest that civil resistance struggles involve public contention with unjust states to expand political rights and civil liberties. We argue that this perspective is an example of Eurocentric universalism, which has three blind spots: it tends to ignore struggles seeking to subvert rather than join the liberal world system, as well as coloniality's effects on nonviolent action, and emerging subjugated knowledges. We propose going beyond these limitations by learning from social movements focusing on human dignity, material self-sufficiency, and local autonomy, especially in the Global South. Our essay examines two classic decolonizing thinkers (Gandhi and Fanon) and two contemporary decolonizing struggles (the Zapatistas in Mexico and the Abahlali in South Africa). Each emphasizes coloniality, constructive over contentious resistance, transformations in political subjectivity, and emancipatory visions that go beyond Western ideals. We call for further research on the many different stories of civil resistance across the worldwide coloniality line.