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The doctrine of passive resistance

The doctrine of passive resistance

May 11, 2022

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This article is written by Neha Dahiya, a law student at Dr. B.R. Ambedkar National Law University, Sonipat. This article explains how the doctrine of passive resistance originated and how it was Indianised during the freedom struggle. It also analyses the successes and failures of passive resistance as a form of protest.

This article has been published by Sneha Mahawar.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Passive resistance is defined as a ‘non-violent opposition to the ruling government or authority.’ It has been an important means of protest for the common masses to resist tyrannical regimes and assert their rights. When people come together to silently disobey the authorities by various means, they are said to resist passively. Non-violence has been the hallmark that has made it one of the most favourable options. People from different countries have exercised it to protest against their governments and have been successful in doing so. Its history goes long back to when societies were based on cooperation and still remains one of the most effective methods of resistance.

Origin of the concept of passive resistance

The ancient egalitarian societies were based on cooperation among the members. Thus, withdrawal from that cooperation was an effective means of protesting and asserting their rights. Even in post-tribal societies, non-cooperation was still a potent tool for silent protests. Thus, the concept of passive resistance is not something new and is almost as old as our societies. In a similar timeline, urbanisation and industrialisation facilitated the emergence of passive resistance. Working classes were being exploited and subjected to poverty. As the levels of literacy rose higher, the working classes were enlightened to come together for the realisation of their social and political goals. Thus, it promoted self-organisation among them. It led to the rise of the ‘middle-classes’ or the proletariat. Sometimes, the result was a violent revolution. However, it also paved way for mass demonstrations and other similar forms of protests. Around the same time, there was a surge in nationalist struggles around the world against imperialistic and dynastic arrangements.

Let us look at a timeline as to how passive resistance has emerged as a means of protest over the years:

Before 18th century

Niccolo Machiavelli has noted the precariousness of a king’s rule that is based on his agents and the general population. Without the trust of his people, a king can never be a successful ruler. Thus, the public working in cooperation has the power to overthrow a ruler. Even Etienne de la Boetie, a 16th-century statesman emphasized that a tyrant’s power rests on the servitude and voluntary cooperation of people and if that is taken away, he would become toothless. Thus, it was realised around this time that the general masses had a lot of potential which could be realised through mass cooperation in asserting their rights collectively. One of the prime incidents before the 18th century that involved passive resistance has been dated back as early as 494 BC. When the Roman plebians were aggrieved at their living conditions and status, they retrieved back to the hill and refused to take part in civic affairs until their demands were met. Thus, they protested passively without any violence.

Working-class movements

During this time, Godwin’s ideas on non-cooperation became highly influential. He opined that if obedience is withdrawn, the foundations on which the tyrannical governments, encroachment on freedom, and subjection rest would crumble to the ground. He believed that passive resistance, i.e. withdrawing the obedience should be the first option and he did not completely rule out the possibility of recourse to violent resistance. In his words, a violent resistance would amount to the “euthanasia of pernicious government”. His ideas inspired several socialist and labour movements. The working class was specifically aggrieved in Britain during the 18th-century. This time period witnessed the growth of several embryo movements and trade unions. As a result of the pressure created by the working class, the government was forced to bring the Reform Act, 1832.

Nationalist movements

The first use of the term “passive resistance” and its German equivalent ‘passiver widerstand’ has been traced by etymologists to be in 1819. It was used majorly for peaceful means like civil disobedience and mass non-cooperation in constitutionalist and nationalist struggles. One of the main examples of the use of passive resistance during this period is the year of revolution in Europe and the ‘birth of nations’. In 1848, the Prussian National Assembly’s President, Hans Victor von Unruh called out to the public for passive resistance to oppose the crown. However, around the same time, Karl Marx denounced it as a means of revolution. Nevertheless, the area of impact of passive resistance as a means of struggle grew continuously. People from different nations adopted this as a means to secure their rights and protest against tyrannical governments.

Passive resistance from the Indian perspective

Passive resistance has played a pivotal role in the Indian freedom struggle. Non-violent protests and passive resistance provided the powerless Indian masses, who could not stand against the fully equipped Britishers, with a potent weapon to reclaim their freedom. The Indians were specifically impressed with the success of passive resistance campaigns in Europe. Thus, they employed it in the Swadeshi movement of 1905-19. The two most prominent leaders who popularised passive resistance in India were Mahatma Gandhi and Sri Aurobindo. Very often the credit for popularising the concept of passive resistance in India goes to Mahatma Gandhi. But it is observed that Indians had already been using it even before it arrived. However, Gandhi formally established the concept in the form of ‘Satyagraha’ and preached non-violence in India. Sri Aurobindo was another popular leader who believed in the higher destiny of India as a world leader, which required passive and peaceful means to earn independence from the British.

Gandhian concept of ahimsa or passive resistance

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was the most popular leader of the Indian freedom struggle. He was also the most vocal advocate of passive resistance, which he called ‘Satyagraha’. He was a pacifist and vouched for non-violence or ‘ahimsa’. He believed that Satyagraha or passive resistance was the ‘soul force’ or ‘truth force’. ‘Satya’ means truth and ‘agraha’ means insisting. It is a non-violent force based on truth and an appeal to the conscience of the oppressor. In his book ‘Home Rule’, he wrote, “Passive resistance is a method of securing rights by personal suffering, it is the reverse of resistance by arms.” He believed that end can never justify the means, i.e. means are as important as the end itself. Thus, both the end and means should be non-violent. Gandhi was completely against using any form of violence and he strictly condemned it. He was not in favour of using violence even if the perpetrator himself turned violent. He popularized the concept of passive resistance or Satyagraha first in South Africa while fighting the apartheid regime and then in India to fight the British. He was successful in organising non-violent mass movements like the Non-Cooperation Movement (1920) and the Civil Disobedience Movement (1930) which yielded great benefits. He emphasised that an oppressor can never be defeated by employing violence as this would justify the use of violence by the perpetrator and further aggravate him. Thus, one should follow the path of Satyagraha, i.e. silently protesting and making the oppressor realise his mistake. This way, a battle can be won peacefully by appealing to the inner consciousness of the enemy.

Aurobindo Ghosh’s ‘Doctrine of passive resistance’

Sri Aurobindo Ghosh was another Indian freedom fighter who vehemently advocated for passive resistance. The main aim of employing passive resistance was to attain swaraj or freedom for the nation. He believed that it was our higher purpose to serve our country and free it from the fetters of foreigners. He called for self-sacrifice for the greater good of the nation.

His plan of passive resistance contained two main strategies:

Swadeshi- It implied the use of Indian goods only. This way the economic dependence of Indians on the British would be shattered. By promoting Indian goods, the British economy would hit hard. Using indigenous goods was a form of silent protest. Charkha and khadi had already become the symbols of passive resistance and self-reliance.
Boycott- It included educational, economic, social, administrative, and judicial boycotts. The Indians were advised to boycott the British schools, colleges, goods, administration, and courts and find recourse to indigenous ones. By boycotting them, Indians were passively resisting and sending a silent message to the British that their hegemony would not be tolerated anymore. When Indians employed all these methods peacefully, the British became helpless as they were puzzled and did not know how to react.

Thus, the aim was to silently overhaul British rule without any violence, by the means of passive resistance.

Successes and failures of passive resistance

During the time period between 1900 to 2019, there have been 628 maximalist mass campaigns that occurred across the globe. Approximately, 325 of them adopted the path of non-violent passive resistance. Success for any resistance is defined in terms of the overthrow of a government or territorial independence achieved. In the past 120 years, almost 565 campaigns have been held. Out of this, 51% of the non-violent ones have been successful. On the other hand, only 21% of violent resistances have been successful. Thus, experience shows that the chances of success have been greater in non-violent and peaceful protests.

However, sometimes the result of passive resistance carried out peacefully is not favourable. One of the most striking examples of it was in Syria. In 2011, the government in Syria, run by the dictator Bashar al-Assad responded brutally to the non-violent protests being carried out by the citizens. Brute military force and chemical weapons were unleashed on unarmed peaceful protestors. This conflict spiralled into an almost decade-long civil war in the country, forcing almost three million people to flee the country. Similarly, the US-backed government in Bahrain attacked peaceful protestors who challenged the monarchy. Russia taking over Crimea by force was another such example.

Nevertheless, non-violent campaigns have yielded more successful results than violent ones over the years. But the concern here remains that even the non-violent campaigns are losing their effectiveness over time.

Success Rates of non-violent and violent mass campaigns, by decade (1930-2019)

Source- Journal of Democracy

The graph records the success rates of violent and non-violent mass campaigns that have taken place each decade from 1930 till 2019. The trend shows that as compared to violent struggles, non-violent ones have a greater success rate. Over time, there has been a steep fall in the success rates of violent struggles. Also, even though non-violent struggles have been more successful as compared to violent ones, they have also witnessed a fall in recent years.

Passive resistance as a potent weapon

People have been resorting to passive resistance as a means of struggle increasingly due to the following possible reasons:

Effectiveness-The effectiveness of passive resistance is long-lasting. It inspires people around the world to take action against any similar injustice they are facing. Even if it fails, it is remembered for generations as an effort to fight against injustice.
Significance of non-violence- People have been increasingly accepting non-violent resistance as a legitimate and effective method for bringing change without any bloodshed.
Spread of technology- When a non-violent struggle at one place becomes successful, it inspires several others. Today, the spread of technology has facilitated the quick and effortless transmission of news and information from one part of the world to another. Through this network, it becomes possible for like-minded people to join hands and execute such protests.
Side-effects of violence- The ill–effects of violence have shown us that there are no winners in a violent conflict as both sides suffer heavy casualties that can never be compensated by the end result, no matter how favourable.
Heightened concerns for human rights- With the spread of education and ideas, the significance of justice and fairness has increased among the people and they expect their governments to do the same. Civil resistance has now come to be perceived as a way to vouch for human rights. Also, people have become aware of their rights and strive for asserting them positively.

Causes of decreasing effectiveness of passive resistance

Passive resistance’s effectiveness is now showing a downward trend. The major reason remains the changing environment in which they operate. Some of the causes are explained below:

Powerful regimes- The regimes around the world have become highly armed against any form of resistance. They do not shy away from using repressive measures like imprisoning oppositionists, using violence and conspiracies, using foreign powers, and curbing various freedoms. They have become highly resilient.
Adaptation with time- Earlier, the autocratic and tyrannical regimes were often startled by a sudden gathering of people and silent protesting. They were not prepared for such an action and often did not know how to react. But after all these years, the ruling class has learned its lesson and does not underestimate the power of people. They have devised tactics to break the mass unity by employing divisive measures, military tactics, and violence.
Technology- Technology has facilitated easier communication. However, easier communication has not only helped in efficiently organising mass demonstrations but also facilitates easier surveillance. The spread of misinformation, propaganda and counter-messaging has become very common and easy.
Increase in violent factions- In a peaceful protest, there is always a tendency for a part of the crowd to turn violent. The share of such a portion was usually less earlier. However, in recent times, the tendency of the crowd to go violent has increased. This ultimately forces the authorities to employ brutal measures to stop the violent crowd.

Future of passive resistance

In the last few decades, people around the globe abandoned arms and picked up passive resistance as a means of reprisal. In several cases, passive resistance has proven to be a successful method for mass mobilization and revolutionary movements.

For instance, the year 2019 witnessed numerous non-violent anti-government movements that yielded successful results. Some of them are as follows:

Omar al-Bashir, the Sudanese tyrant fell from power in April 2019.
Serving an unconstitutional fifth term, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was overthrown by a popular uprising called the Smile Revolution.
As a result of mass demonstrations and work stoppages, the governor of Puerto Rico was forced to resign from his post.
Due to similar reasons, governments fell in Iraq, Lebanon, and Bolivia.
People came to the streets in Hongkong to protest against the pro-Beijing extradition law.
Protests and mass demonstrations in Chile forced the government to re-negotiate its fiscal policies.
Across several nations, people were seen protesting for equal rights for women, the LGBTQ community, blacks, immigrants, and other vulnerable sections.

However, recently we have come to realise the limitations of passive resistance. Governments have started employing law as a weapon to introduce divisive policies and laws to suspend free speech and expression. In fact, the COVID-19 pandemic revealed the need for a revamped approach towards it. This in no way implies that passive resistance has no future. It just needs to adjust to the changing times.

Lessons to learn from changed circumstances

Over the years, passive resistance has proved to be a significant instrument of revolt. However, times have changed and there has been a lot of transformation in the prevailing circumstances. Thus, it is pertinent to look back and reflect on how such protests can be enhanced. Some of the lessons to be learnt are the following:

Meticulous planning- It is important that passive resistance is organised carefully with special emphasis on planning and training. These things need to be taken care of before the actual demonstration starts. The objective should be clear.
Maintaining momentum- Mass movements are usually short-lived. They tend to lose momentum after some time. Perseverance is an important quality for a mass demonstration to succeed. It is important to maintain this momentum. The increase in size and diversity of the crowd can help in this direction.
Efficient use of technology- Technology can facilitate mass communication in an easy and efficient manner. However, a movement should not completely rely on it as it is easily penetrated by the authorities and has the potential to break the unity of the masses by misinformation.
Maintaining unity and discipline- Unity and discipline are the foundations on which a successful movement rests. These elements can help the masses to endure better under pressure.

Conclusion

Passive resistance has played an important role in the struggles of masses across the globe. There are many advantages of adopting passive resistance as a means of protest, especially with a growing concern for human rights and an increasing aversion toward violence.

However, recent years have revealed a decrease in its effectiveness, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic when the entire world was locked down and social distancing became a norm. Changing circumstances have made it necessary that the approach adopted in passive resistance needs a re-adjustment. Thus, we need to re-orient our strategies in order to maintain the effectiveness of passive resistance.

References

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