Abstentionism is a term in
election procedure for when a participant does not go to
vote. Abstention must be contrasted with "blank
vote", in which a voter casts a ballot willfully made invalid by marking it wrongly or by not marking anything at all. An abstention may be used to indicate the
voting individual's ambivalence about the measure, or mild disapproval that does not rise to the level of active opposition. Abstention can also be used when someone has a certain position about an issue, but since the popular sentiment supports the opposite, it might not be politically expedient to
vote according to his or her conscience. Some non-voters claim that
voting does not make any positive
… Read more difference. "If
voting changed anything, they?d make it illegal," is an oft-cited sentiment attributed to anarchist
Emma Goldman. In addition to strategic non-voters, there are also ethical non-voters, those who reject
voting outright, not merely as an ineffective tactic for change, but moreover, because they view the act as either a grant of
consent to be governed by the state, a means of imposing illegitimate control over one's countrymen, or both.
A
black bloc is a tactic used by anti-capitalist protesters who wear black clothing, ski masks, scarves, sunglasses, motorcycle helmets with padding, or other face-concealing and face-protecting items. The clothing is used to conceal wearers' identities and hinder criminal prosecution by making it difficult to distinguish between participants. It is also used to protect their faces and eyes from pepper spray, which is used by police during protests or civil unrest. The tactic allows the group to appear as one large unified mass.
Black bloc participants are often associated with
anarchism,
anarcho-communism,
communism, libertarian
socialism, antifascism, or the anti-
globalization movement.
…
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The tactic was developed in the 1980s in the European autonomist movement's protests against squatter evictions,
nuclear power, and restrictions on
abortion, as well as other influences. Black blocs gained broader media attention outside
Europe during the 1999 Seattle WTO protests when a
black bloc damaged property of various
multinationals.
Diversity of tactics is a phenomenon wherein a social movement makes periodic use of force for disruptive or defensive purposes, stepping beyond the limits of
nonviolence, but also stopping short of total militarization. It also refers to the theory which asserts this to be the most effective strategy of
civil disobedience for social change.
Diversity of tactics may promote
nonviolent tactics, or armed
resistance, or a range of methods in between, depending on the level of
repression the political movement is facing.
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