Civil Resistance: What Everyone Needs to Know introduces readers to the concept of civil resistance, “a method of active conflict in which unarmed people use a variety of coordinated, noninstitutional methods—strikes, protests, demonstrations, boycotts, alternative institution-building, and many other tactics—to promote change without harming or threatening to harm an opponent” (p. 2). Erica Chenoweth is well established as one of the leading voices in the study of civil resistance and thus is well placed to offer an authoritative view of what we do indeed need to know about this phenomenon. In this book, Chenoweth reviews and clarifies basic terminology commonly used in discussions about civil resistance: they describe how and where civil resistance tends to be used; explore its juxtaposition with violence, both by participants within dissident movements and by government forces; and conclude with a discussion of long-and short-term impacts of civil resistance campaigns.

Original scholarship in the form of theory development and hypothesis testing is not Chenoweth’s primary endeavor here; rather, they focus on reviewing key concepts and lessons that are well established in the existing literature on civil resistance while acknowledging the persistent gaps in our knowledge regarding the causes and consequences of this form of dissent. The literature with which Chenoweth engages is preponderantly situated within political science, although there are myriad valuable references to work in other social science disciplines, as well as writings and other insights from activists who have engaged directly in civil resistance.

Throughout their book, and as the title suggests, Chenoweth highlights a set of features of civil resistance that everyone should know. First, this method of dissent is indeed effective and often is more likely to succeed than violent tactics. Second, its efficacy is rooted in a movement’s ability to draw on a large and diverse base of participants and to secure defections from “pillars” that support the targeted regime. Third, civil resistance involves myriad forms of action beyond protests, and in fact these campaigns tend to be more effective when they adopt a wide variety of tactics. Fourth, in the twentieth century, civil resistance was much more effective than armed antigovernment conflicts like rebellion; however, Chenoweth also highlights some interesting findings that the rates of success of civil resistance campaigns have declined somewhat over more recent years. Finally, although the regimes and other groups threatened by civil resistance campaigns often attempt to discredit nonviolent methods, those are valuable and viable strategies to pursue revolutionary change.

The question-and-answer format that apparently characterizes this “What Everyone Needs to Know” series from Oxford University Press may feel different from standard academic texts at first, but it actually works quite well: it makes the content feel conversational and accessible to readers at all levels of knowledge about contentious politics, from beginners to those who have spent years studying the subject. Indeed, many of the questions motivating the dialogue throughout the book are ones I have often pondered myself. As I began reading Chenoweth’s book, I wondered whether cyberwarfare and hacking could ever be considered civil resistance; lo and behold, pages 62-67 discuss this very theme! Many of the questions Chenoweth tackles also address topics that commonly arise in conversations with students at undergraduate and graduate levels: “Does property destruction count as civil resistance?” (p. 57); “Is armed resistance required to fight genocidal regimes?” (p. 208); and “Why does civil resistance sometimes result in authoritarian backsliding after the movement wins?” (p. 241). Thus, Chenoweth offers a resource that will be valuable for academics interested in various elements of civil resistance, as well as for students seeking a deeper understanding of this phenomenon, both conceptually and practically.

It is worth pointing out that this book caters to another audience as well: those actively engaged in civil resistance “on the ground.” It can be an immense challenge to strike a balance between commentary that is relevant for both activists and scholars, but Chenoweth has done this masterfully. Their book has considerable value for both communities. Chenoweth offers actionable insights that are rooted in a plethora of real-world examples and thoughtful summaries of existing scholarship, which is likely useful for practitioners working to empower potential participants in their social movement and for academics writing their own literature reviews or studying for comprehensive exams. Furthermore, many lessons aimed at those participating in civil resistance also could spur academic research.

There remain several big quandaries that the book touches on but does not adequately answer. This is no fault of Chenoweth’s, however, as they are reliant on a broader body of literature that does not yet offer robust responses to these questions. First, on reading chapter 2, it becomes clear that we do not have a particularly well-defined sense of what causes dissidents to initiate a campaign of civil resistance. This is especially true when we compare the adoption of civil resistance to an alternative reliance on violent tactics. On several occasions, Chenoweth rightly highlights the positive empirical association between the onset of civil resistance campaigns and poor domestic human rights practices, in addition to other structural factors such as large populations, “youth bulges,” and existing social organizations (p. 91). However, these conditions also have been found to increase the likelihood of armed intrastate conflict. Chenoweth offers some valuable insights about determinants (and lack thereof) of civil resistance, but more work can be done to parse out the motivations for tactical choices by dissidents.

Second, to what extent can we make comparisons and draw conclusions across populations of civil resistance campaigns centered around reformist demands, such as improved minority group rights or environmental protections, and those movements pursuing truly revolutionary goals that overhaul the status quo? A large majority of the recent literature in political science addressing nonviolent civil resistance focuses on “maximalist” campaigns pursuing major revolutionary goals such as gaining independence or overthrowing a regime—and this body of work is a primary foundation for Chenoweth’s lessons in this book. Other scholarship, especially from sociologists, offers valuable insights about the causes and consequences of nonmaximalist campaigns, but this work tends to be limited to a single movement or a small number of cases. Importantly, Chenoweth readily acknowledges that our ability to discern trends such as the overall efficacy of civil resistance over time is limited, because we have not yet been able to compare social movements across different levels and types of dissident demands (p. 226). One hopes that future scholarship will be oriented to facilitate additional insights on which findings from large-N quantitative analyses of maximalist movements over time and space map well onto lessons from microlevel studies dealing with single cases of different types of civil resistance campaigns, and vice versa.

Despite these lingering issues, which are more a problem within our field generally than for this book specifically, Chenoweth provides a fantastic compendium of scholarship and general insights on civil resistance that should be valuable for academics and activists alike.