Nonviolent resistance failure: internal reasons why campaigns struggle to win (and what we can learn from it)

Existing literature on nonviolent resistance typically emphasizes the elements that contribute to a campaign’s success. Conversely, mechanisms leading to the failure of such nonviolent resistance campaigns in democratic countries have been underexplored. The research is largely limited to external mechanisms of failure, which will be briefly outlined, including missed political opportunities, hard and soft repression by states and media, as well as conflicting interactions with other campaigns. Accordingly, this article analyzes the internal mechanisms explaining nonviolent resistance failure. Data from three campaigns of the German climate movement, primarily gathered through autoethnography and participatory action research, are brought into a reflective conversation with the nonviolent resistance literature to develop a framework of internal failure mechanisms. This includes: 1) lacking resources; 2) fragile organizational structures; 3) weak support bases; 4) ineffective tactics; and 5) little strategy. By gaining a deeper understanding of the challenges that campaigns face and viewing these as opportunities for constructive failure, this may increase their chances of success.