Nonviolence is in “the DNA” of Scientist Rebellion (SR)
As long as actions are non-violent and align with our code of conduct, goals and demands, groups do not need permission by any structure within the movement to act, and actions carried out in this manner will be endorsed by SR.
Scientist Rebellion Turtle Island in a Network of Nonviolence
This follows from Scientist Rebellion’s origins in the global Extinction Rebellion (XR) movement, which has emphasized the use of non-violent direct action to persuade governments to act with appropriate haste and depth in response to the climate and ecological/biodiversity emergencies. While the definitions and boundaries of what constitutes violence and nonviolence have been debated (e.g. monkeywrenching and other forms of sabotage), XR made it clear that XR (and, by extension, SR) will not engage in significant property damage as part of our nonviolent commitment. The 9th Value of XR reads:
We are a nonviolent network.
Using nonviolent strategy and tactics as the most effective way to bring about change.
Non-violence keeps our movement alive. We use non-violence to reveal the true perpetrators of systemic violence that people suffer from daily all over this world. It is our strategy to bring light to the injustice that too many suffer each day. We feel pain from the abuses of the police and others, and we will keep exposing their violence through our discipline. Non-violence has unequivocally been demonstrated to be an effective tool in mass mobilisations (see the work of Gene Sharp and Erica Chenoweth) and so we base a cornerstone of our movement on this.
At the same time we also recognise that many people and movements in the world face death, displacement and abuse in defending what is theirs. We will not condemn those who justly defend their families and communities through the use of force, especially as we must also recognise that it is often our privilege which keeps us safe. We stand in solidarity with those whom have no such privilege to protect them and therefore must protect themselves through violent means; this does not mean we condone all violence, just that we understand in some cases it may be justified. Also we do not condemn other social and environmental movements that choose to damage property in order to protect themselves and nature, for example disabling a fracking rig or putting a detention centre out of action. Our network, however, will not undertake significant property damage because of risks to other participants by association.
Nonviolence is Effective Strategy
Chenowith and Stephan’s 2011 book, Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict, presents results from a study of 323 mass mobilizations for major social change that happened between 1900 and 2006 (whether nonviolent or violent). Their results show that nonviolent resistance campaigns were more than twice as effective as violent ones.
Chenowith and Stephan suggest that the reason nonviolent campaigns are so much more effective is that they are able to mobilize far more people, from far more diverse segments of society. Women, youths, and elderly people are much more likely to engage with a nonviolent campaign than a violent one. With a sufficiently large (3.5%) and highly diverse segment of the population actively participating in a nonviolent campaign, it increases the odds that those employed to suppress the campaign (military, law enforcement, security guards, etc.) have a close connection with engaged activists. This becomes a disincentive to suppressive actions that threaten participants — who wants to pepper-spray their auntie, when all she’s doing is banging a pot and chanting?
Who wants to pepper-spray their auntie, when all she’s doing is banging a pot and chanting?
Noisy Picket at Wells Fargo in San Francisco, July 30, 2025 – photo by Leon Kunstenaar
Learn more about Scientist Rebellion Turtle Island discussions of mass mobilization.
Gene Sharp and 198 Methods
There are hundreds of examples of nonviolent methods that have been used to apply public pressure and create change. New ones are invented frequently, to deal with different contexts, constraints, and capacities.
Gene Sharp published a hugely influential framework for nonviolent action in 1973: 198 Methods of Nonviolent Action. It’s said that he stopped his accounting of methods of nonviolent action and persuasion at 198, so that it was clear that there were lots of them, and that the list should continue to grow. He categorized these methods into:
- The Methods of Social Noncooperation
- The Methods of Economic Noncooperation: Economic Boycotts
- The Methods of Economic Noncooperation: The Strike
- The Methods of Political Noncooperation
- The Methods of Nonviolent Intervention
Information and examples how nonviolent methods have been used by social movements are available at the Global Nonviolent Action Database, Swarthmore College.
Principles of Nonviolence
Different leaders of nonviolent resistance movements have articulated different principles for nonviolence. Mohandas K. Gandhi encapsulated this as ahimsa, which incorporated not only a commitment to not willingly harm others, but also a commitment to endure suffering without retaliation (see Understanding Gandhi: Satyagraha Philosophy).
Inspired by Gandhi’s work, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. offered six fundamental principles of nonviolence in his 1958 book Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story, finding connections between his Christian faith and Gandhian principles:
- Nonviolence is a Way of Life for Courageous People.
- Nonviolence Seeks to Win Friendship and Understanding.
- Nonviolence Seeks to Defeat Injustice, or Evil, Not People.
- Nonviolence Holds That Unearned, Voluntary Suffering for a Just Cause Can Educate and Transform People and Societies.
- Nonviolence Chooses Love Instead of Hate.
- Nonviolence Believes That the Universe Is on the Side of Justice.
Learn more about King’s philosophy at The King Center and The King Institute (Stanford University). Waging Nonviolence is a good resource for news and examples of nonviolence in action.
To be effective agents for change, activists in Scientist Rebellion Turtle Island are dedicated to nonviolence. We stand for following the science when it comes to the climate and ecological emergencies. We also follow the research when it comes to activism, civil resistance, and social change. Nonviolence has been shown to be the most effective path to transforming society.
