Name: How Blowing A Whistle Is An Act Of Nonviolent Resistance - Maria J. Stephan
Uploaded: 2026-01-23T17:34:23.000Z
Duration: 6 min 20 s
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My next guest tonight is a scholar of nonviolent resistance who has worked with movements all around the world and is co author of the book why Civil Resistance works.

I'm so glad it's you, about the idea of nonviolent resistance, because I knew at some point during the second term there would be a rebirth of some sort of resistance movement to the overreaches of the Trump administration.

And I know that people are hungry for tools, ways to do this in ethical ways that fit with our own morals.

And nonviolent resistance could definitely be one of those ways people will resist authoritarianism.

Let's talk about the ways people can resist.

You've spent decades studying nonviolent resistance to authoritarianism.

Well, Stephen, thank you for having me on the show.

What a necessary time to be talking about nonviolence and nonviolent resistance.

Yes, and we are seeing nonviolent resistance blossoming all across this country.

And I'm especially thinking of Minneapolis right now in Minnesota, and

the profoundly courageous, tenacious, deeply loving ways that communities are organizing, protesting, protecting their neighbors, all using nonviolent resistance.

How would you define nonviolent resistance?

So nonviolent resistance is a powerful form of collective action.

It's where ordinary people coordinate a range of different tactics.

Protests, boycotts, strikes, walkouts, mutual aid to build power, to disrupt injustices, and to liberate themselves from oppression.

So it's a way of fighting back without the threat or use of violence.

Well, you know, I've got in my pocket here, Stephen, a whistle.

So what people are doing is they are organizing neighborhood groups.

They are taking Know youw Rights trainings.

And one of those ways is blowing a whistle to let their neighbors know that ICE is there and that they are there to stand with them and to defend them.

It's not only a good warning, but it's oddly cheerful.

I feel like Thomas the Tank Engine has joined the resistance.

Let's talk about things like a general strike Has America.

It's a very European thing to have a general strike.

Has America ever engaged in a general strike?

But I can say what's happening this Friday on January 23rd, there is an ICE out of Minnesota day of action.

It's a shutdown day where people will be staying home from work, they won't be going to school, they'll be refusing to participate in economic activities.

And they're calling on Americans across the country to show solidarity.

And one of the problems with Minnesota right now is you have people like Kristi Noem or the people who are heading up ICE saying that it's not non violent resistance.

They're saying someone like Renee Goode was actually a threat to those people or that filming an ICE agent.

And I said documenting, which is perfectly legal, is a form of threat and therefore they're justified to use what they say, violence in return to the threat of violence from these people.

What do you do when what your non violent action is perceived of or called violence by the people who can use violence against you?

Declaring peaceful protesters violent or domestic terrorists or outside agitators is what autocrats all around the world do.

That is their playbook, is to make people fearful and to try to undermine the legitimacy of protesters.

And so what are we seeing in Minneapolis right now?

What have we seen in our history in this country?

Profound state violence used against protesters.

They prepared, they trained, they role played, they organized, all to make that political violence backfire.

So when peaceful discipline protesters confronted the, you know, the dogs, the hoses, the response, it revealed the cruelty when the disciplined protesters were faced with this form of violence.

And so that's how disciplined nonviolent resistance can make state violence, repression backfire.

They know that nonviolent resistance is something they can't handle.

So they'll do anything in their power to undermine the legitimacy of these protesters, to call them domestic terrorists, to foment violence so that they can justify crackdowns.

They are prepared, they're disciplined, they're trained.

It's sticking in my head a quote from Rebecca Goode, the widow of Renee Goode, who said, they show up with guns, we show up with whistles.

We're right back with more Maria Stephan.