Kurt Schock; Civil Resistance Today – Book review

Kurt Schock's book Civil Resistance Today, which covers all these movements and provides an introductory and up-to-date analytical overview, is therefore very timely. In the last few years, there has also been a rapid growth in the literature on civil resistance, as Schock notes in his Preface, listing 'important' publications since 2009. He draws on most of these within his text, as well as surveying the historical evolution of the literature and the key role of Gandhi's campaigns and ideas in the development of civil resistance. Schock summarises Gene Sharp's central contribution to understanding the theory, methods, and dynamics of how civil resistance works, but also queries (sometimes citing other contributors to the literature) the adequacy of some of Sharp's formulations, for example his 'consent theory' of power.