From Dictatorship to Democracy explained
Width: | 25em |
From Dictatorship to Democracy |
Country: | United States; others |
Language: | English & 30+ others |
Publisher: | Albert Einstein Institution |
Pub Date: | 1994; others |
English Pub Date: | 1994 |
Pages: | 93 (2010); others |
Isbn: | 9781880813096 |
Oclc: | 706499601 |
Wikisource: | From Dictatorship to Democracy |
From Dictatorship to Democracy, A Conceptual Framework for Liberation is a book-length essay on the generic problem of how to destroy a dictatorship and to prevent the rise of a new one.[1] The book was written in 1993 by Gene Sharp (1928–2018), a professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts. The book has been published in many countries worldwide and translated into more than 30 languages. Editions in many languages are also published by the Albert Einstein Institution of Boston, Massachusetts. its current primary English-language edition is the Fourth United States Edition, published in May 2010.[2]
The book has been circulated worldwide and cited repeatedly as influencing movements such as the Arab Spring of 2010–2012.
Origin
From Dictatorship to Democracy (FDTD) was written in 1993 at the request of a prominent exiled Burmese democrat, Tin Maung Win, who was then editor of Khit Pyaing (The New Era Journal), inBangkok, Thailand.[3] The book took several months to write as the author drew upon several decades of experience in scholarship on nonviolent action.[3] FDTD was first published in 1993 as installments in Burmese and English in Khit Pyaing. In 1994, it was issued as a booklet in both English and Burmese.[3] Since that time, there have been several additional English-language editions and translations into more than 30 additional languages.
Topics covered
From Dictatorship to Democracy contains a preface and ten sections. Its first appendix includes 198 Methods Of Nonviolent Action that were taken from Gene Sharp's The Politics of Nonviolent Action (1973), Part Two, The Methods of Nonviolent Action. The main sections of the 4th US edition are entitled:
1. Facing Dictatorships Realistically
2. The Dangers of Negotiations
3. Whence Comes the Power?
4. Dictatorships Have Weaknesses
5. Exercising Power
6. The Need for Strategic Planning
7. Planning Strategy
8. Applying Political Defiance
9. Disintegrating the Dictatorship
10. Groundwork for Durable DemocracyThree appendices are included in the fourth US edition of FDTD:
Appendix 1. The Methods of Nonviolent Action
Appendix 2. Acknowledgements and Notes on the History of From Dictatorship to Democracy
Appendix 3. A Note About Translations and Reprinting of this Publication
For Further ReadingAppendix 3 gives a step-by-step procedure for effectively translating FDTD into other languages.
Influence
From Dictatorship to Democracy has been circulated worldwide and cited repeatedly as influencing movements such as the Arab Spring (pictured) in 2011.[4] [5] [6] [7] Sharp has stated that after FDTD was first written, "although no efforts were made to promote the publication for use in other countries, translations and distribution of the publication began to spread on their own.... We usually do not know how awareness of this publication has spread from country to country."[3]
A CNN profile of Sharp in 2012 stated that FDTD had "spread like a virus," calling it a "viral pamphlet."[4] The book "started life in Myanmar as incendiary advice printed on a few sheets of paper and surreptitiously exchanged by activists living under a military dictatorship." Later it "took on a life of its own... eventually, some say, inspiring the uprisings known as the Arab Spring."[4]
The Pakistani Daily Times stated that FDTD "has had an impact on the Arabic-speaking world even though the setting is in a non-Arabic world."[5]
Non-English Editions From Dictatorship to Democracy | -valign="top" | Language | Year | Information | -valign="top" | | 2011 |
| -valign="top" | | 2007 |
| -valign="top" | | 2004, 2009 | - [10] 70p (2004); (2009) Radwan Ziadeh (intro.), Khaled Dar Omar (trans.). Beirut: Arab Scientific Publishers
| -valign="top" | | 2005 |
| -valign="top" | | 2001, 2005 |
| -valign="top" | | 1995 |
| -valign="top" | | 2001 |
| -valign="top" | | 2005 | Traditional*[15] or simplified*[16] 52p | -valign="top" | | 1999 | 84p | -valign="top" | | 2011 | 139p, Jesper Jordan (trans.) | -valign="top" | | 2011 |
| -valign="top" | | ‡ | (Maldives) | -valign="top" | | 2004 |
| -valign="top" | French | 2009 | - [19] 137p, Dora Atger (trans). Paris: Harmattan
| -valign="top" | | ‡ | -valign="top" | German | 2008, 2011 | - [20] Andreas Wirthensohn (trans.) Berlin: Parlando
| -valign="top" | | 1997 |
| -valign="top" | Italian | 2011 | - [22] Massimo Gardella (trans.)
| -valign="top" | | 2001 |
| -valign="top" | | 2001 |
| -valign="top" | | 2005 |
| -valign="top" | | ‡ | -valign="top" | | 2005 |
| -valign="top" | | 2001 |
| -valign="top" | | ‡ | -valign="top" | | 2008 |
| -valign="top" | | 2005 |
| -valign="top" | | 1999 |
| -valign="top" | Spanish | 2003 | - [31] Caridad Inda (trans.)
| -valign="top" | | 2006, 2009 | - [32] 173p, Padma-tshe-dbaṅ (trans)
| -valign="top" | | 2006 |
| -valign="top" | | 2004 |
| -valign="top" | | ‡ | -valign="top" | | 2005 |
| -valign="top" | *Listed on Albert Einstein Institution website | -valign="top" | ‡Listed by Sharp (2010)[36] | |
The
Financial Times, in discussing the prospects for dictators worldwide, described Sharp as "the
Lenin of the new Gandhi-ism" stating that
What is new... is the wildfire spread of systematically non-violent insurgency. This owes a great deal to the strategic thinking of Gene Sharp, an American academic whose how-to-topple-your-tyrant manual, From Dictatorship to Democracy, is the bible of activists from Belgrade to Rangoon.[6]
The BBC reported in 2004 that FDTD "was used practically as a textbook" in lectures attended by members of Otpor!, the Serbian resistance movement, in the year 2000.[37]
The New York Times reported in 2011 that From Dictatorship to Democracy had been posted by the Muslim Brotherhood on its website during the 2011 Egyptian revolution.[38]
In 2012, The New York Times noted that FDTD was "available for download in more than two dozen languages" (and provided a link), while describing Sharp as a "leading [advocate] of grass-roots democracy."[7]
In June 2015, the Financial Times reported that the Chinese government had tried to buy language rights to FDTD:[39]
FDTD has been reviewed in newspapers.[40]
In 2015, 17 activistists were charged for an attempted coup d'état in Angola, and one of the proofs presented was the possession of the book FDTD.[41]
Editions
The book was first published in 1993 in installments in Burmese and English in Khit Pyaing inBangkok, Thailand. In 1994, it was issued as a booklet in both languages, with theassistance of the Committee for the Restoration of Democracy in Burma.[3] [42] [43] Since that time, there have been several additional English-language editions. There have also been editions in at least 30 other languages (see table at right). The English-language editions include:
- Book: Sharp, Gene . From dictatorship to democracy: A conceptual framework for liberation . Gene Sharp . 1994 . Bangkok, Thailand . Committee for the Restoration of Democracy in Burma . 1st English language . 35447780 . (79 pages)
- Book: Sharp, Gene . From dictatorship to democracy: A conceptual framework for liberation . Gene Sharp . 2003 . Boston, MA . . 2nd . (93 pages)
- Book: Sharp, Gene . From dictatorship to democracy: A conceptual framework for liberation . Gene Sharp . 2008 . Boston, MA . . 3rd . 791449678 . (93 pages)
- Book: Sharp, Gene . From dictatorship to democracy: A conceptual framework for liberation . Gene Sharp . 2010 . Cambridge, MA . . 4th . 9781880813096 . 702484909 . (93 pages)
- Book: Sharp, Gene . From dictatorship to democracy: A conceptual framework for liberation . Gene Sharp . 2011 . Michael Randle (preface) . Pontypool, Wales . Green Print . 9781854251046 . 780844332 . London: Housmans Bookshop. (93 pages)
- Book: Sharp, Gene . From dictatorship to democracy: A conceptual framework for liberation . Gene Sharp . 2012 . Melbourne (Parkville), Australia . Custom Book Centre . 4th English . 9781921775369 . (102 pages)
- Book: Sharp, Gene . From dictatorship to democracy: A conceptual framework for liberation . Gene Sharp . 2012 . London . . 9781846688393 . 791419484 . (138 pages)
- Book: Sharp, Gene . From dictatorship to democracy: A conceptual framework for liberation . Gene Sharp . 2012 . New York. . 9781595588500 . 778419479 . (prepublication)
See also
External links
Notes and References
- http://www.aeinstein.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/FDTD.pdf From Dictatorship to Democracy
- http://www.aeinstein.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/FDTD.pdf From Dictatorship to Democracy
- The history of FDTD is discussed at length in Appendix 2 of the 4th US edition of FDTD, "Acknowledgements and Notes on the History of From Dictatorship to Democracy" (pp. 87–90), available for download at the Albert Einstein Institution website HERE.
- http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/23/world/gene-sharp-revolutionary/index.html Gene Sharp: A dictator's worst nightmare
- http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\story_1-6-2012_pg3_6 Our foreign policy gap
- http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/737c74e4-bc53-11e1-a836-00144feabdc0.html Do not despair yet about dictators
- https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/11/books/the-dictators-learning-curve-by-william-j-dobson.html Velvet Gloves Over Iron Fists
- http://www.aeinstein.org/organizationsOromo.html Abbaa-Irreetirraa Gara Dimokraasii – Wixina Qabsoo Bilisummaatiif Malu
- http://www.aeinstein.org/organizationsFDTD_Amharic.html From Dictatorship to Democracy (Amharic)
- http://www.aeinstein.org/organizations49f3.html من الدكتـــاتورية إلى الديمـــقراطية
- http://www.aeinstein.org/organizations1aef.html DİKTATURADAN DEMOKRATİYAYA DOĞRU: Azadliq üçün Konseptual Çərçivə
- http://www.aeinstein.org/organizationsec30.html Ад ДЫКТАТУРЫ да ДЭМАКРАТЫІ
- http://www.aeinstein.org/organizations4aab.html From Dictatorship to Democracy – Burmese
- http://www.aeinstein.org/organizations8b77.html Hranhram Uknak In Zapi Thimmi Democracy Uknak Ah
- http://www.aeinstein.org/organizations3c9b.html 從獨裁到民主: 解放運動的概念框架
- http://www.aeinstein.org/organizations3c9b.html 从独裁到民主: 解放运动的概念框架
- http://www.aeinstein.org/fdtd_dari.html از ديکتاتورى به ديموکراسى
- http://www.aeinstein.org/organizationse256.html از ديکتاتوري به دموکراسي
- http://www.aeinstein.org/fdtd_fr.html De la Dictature à La Démocratie
- http://www.aeinstein.org/fdtd_de.html Von der Diktatur zur Demokratie
- http://www.aeinstein.org/organizations9eed.html Menuju Demokrasi Tanpa Kekerasan: Kerangka Konseptual Untuk Pembebasan
- http://www.aeinstein.org/fdtd_it.html Dalla dittatura alla democrazia
- http://www.aeinstein.org/organizationsa08f.html Gumshem Magam Lai Kaw Nna Dimokresi Lai De
- http://www.aeinstein.org/organizationsd457.html From Dictatorship to Democracy – Karen (Burma)
- http://www.aeinstein.org/organizationskhmer.html From Dictatorship to Democracy (Khmer/Cambodian translation)
- http://www.aeinstein.org/organizationsbf35.html ДИКТАТУРАДАН ДЕМОКРАТИЯГА
- http://www.aeinstein.org/organizations7778.html From Dictatorship to Democracy – Mon (Burma)
- http://www.aeinstein.org/organizationspashto.html د ديکتاتورۍ نه ديموکراسۍ ته
- http://www.aeinstein.org/organizations0eb9.html От ДИКТАТУРЫ к ДЕМОКРАТИИ
- http://www.aeinstein.org/organizations4caf.html Od diktature do demokratije: Rušimo prepreke gradimo mostove
- http://www.aeinstein.org/organizations1882.html De la Dictadura a la Democracia
- http://www.aeinstein.org/organizationsTibetanFDTD.html From Dictatorship to Democracy (Tibetan)
- http://www.aeinstein.org/downloads/tigrigna/ From Dictatorship to Democracy (Tigrigna)
- http://www.aeinstein.org/organizations3a44.html Від диктатури до демократії: концептуальні засади здобуття свободи
- http://www.aeinstein.org/organizationsVietFDTD.html Từ Độc Tài đến Dân Chủ
- Page 89 of Gene Sharp (2010). From Dictatorship to Democracy (4th English language edition, 2010) (accessed 29 June 2012)
- [BBC]
- News: Shy U.S. Intellectual Created Playbook Used in a Revolution. December 16, 2011 . New York Times . 18 December 2011 . Sheryl Gay. Stolberg.
- News: Mitchell . Tom . China worries about Hong Kong civil disobedience reaching mainland . 31 August 2015 . . 4 . 18 June 2015.
- Lucy Popescu (2012, Jan 8). From Dictatorship to Democracy, By Gene Sharp: No fool, this child of the revolution The Independent (accessed 30 June 2012
- News: Angolan rapper Luaty Beirao accused of rebellion. 16 November 2015. BBC. 17 November 2015.
- Gene Sharp, A Short History of “From Dictatorship to Democracy" Excerpted from a letter written by Gene Sharp in response to a student, and downloaded from website of the Albert Einstein Institution. Sharp states that the writing of FDTD "took four months full time" (p. 1) (accessed 29 June 2012)
- Copyright page of https://books.google.com/books?id=9ThfnNG68vMC&q=%22From+dictatorship+to+democracy%22+gene+sharp (accessed 29 June 2012)