In the news we often hear about problems and a lot of violence. Occasionally there is also news about non-violent actions, although this often focuses on violent incidents, e.g. violent repression by the state of some activists (who may also be infiltrators). Where can you find information about non-violence without media bias?

The Global Nonviolent Action Database (GNAD): This database provides access to information on hundreds of cases of nonviolent action to learn from and inspire citizen action. It contains campaigns that have reached a point of completion, from all continents and many countries. Examples include human rights, economic justice, democracy, national and ethnic identity, environmental sustainability and peace. The database enables researchers and writers to develop strategic knowledge and theory. Each case is presented in two formats: the database file (with searchable fields) and the narrative that describes the battle as an unfolding story. The database supports searches by country, issue, method of action, and even by year – with the oldest case from Ancient Egypt from the 12th century BCE. http://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu

Digital Library of Nonviolent Resistance: Created by Nonviolence International and the Rutgers University International Institute for Peace, this online collection includes training manuals and related materials, such as training workshop reports, exercises, campaign preparatory materials, and legal and direct action handouts. The open access digital library includes materials from the 1960s, the anti-nuclear peace and American Civil Rights movements to resistance against Wall Street, the Arab Spring and Black Lives Matter. http://nonviolence.rutgers.edu/s/digital.


Nonviolence News: Each week, Nonviolent News brings readers thirty to fifty stories of nonviolence in action, shedding light on the scale and scope of nonviolence that actively shapes our world. These news stories reflect nonviolent action and practices, including constructive programs, alternative institutions, and policies rooted in structural/systemic nonviolence. This weekly list is compiled from a diverse range of movement and media sources by novelist and activist Rivera Sun. It is now a sister project to the Nonviolence Now awareness campaign. Subscribe to the free newsletter: http://nonviolencenews.org.

Peace News: Peace News presents stories about people taking risks for peace. The stories highlight the opinions of ordinary people who want nonviolent solutions to their political differences. When peace news stories are about war zones, they want to contribute to building trust and reconciliation, while most international news today is driven by sensationalism. http://peaceenews.com.

Waging Nonviolence: Founded in 2009, Waging Nonviolence is an independent, nonprofit media platform dedicated to providing original reporting and expert analysis on nonviolent social movements around the world. In addition to producing original content, it has a membership of several organizations and universities working for peace and justice, which publish their own stories. https://wagingnonviolence.org

Minds of the Movement: This blog from the International Center of Nonviolent Conflict features stories, interviews and commentary that explore the ideas and experiences of people on the ‘front lines’ of ‘civil resistance’ movements, keeping readers informed of the latest developments from all over the world. The blog is a resource for those seeking to understand the art and science of nonviolent struggle, and it is a forum for nonviolent activists, scholars, students, journalists, and members of INGOs and policy makers. http://nonviolent-conflict.org/blog

PeaceVoice: PeaceVoice distributes opinion articles and commentary written by professionals from a perspective of conflict resolution, positive peace and nonviolence. As such, this distribution service acts as a free literary agent to busy peace professionals. PeaceVoice gets these informed voices into America’s mainstream media so that more Americans can decide on public policy questions based on complete information. http://PeaceVoice.info.

Solutions Story Tracker: A project of the Solutions Journalism Network, Solutions Story Tracker, is a curated database of rigorous reporting on responses to social problems. Each story is tagged, helping readers find coverage of effective or promising ideas and approaches – by issue, location, journalist and success factor (strategic insights that emerge as patterns). The database includes stories about restoring dignity to women while being incarcerated and cultivating local food economies. Story Tracker hosts a wide range of media, from major publishers like National Geographic and the New York Times to local media like Columbia’s Missourian. http://Storytracker.solutionsjournalism.org.

Transcend Media Service: Since 2008, the Weekly Digest by Transcend Media Service (TMS) has published tens of thousands of analytical articles and commentaries featuring the unique perspectives of independent contributors from around the world. TMS works to broaden and diversify expert discussion by focusing on hidden aspects of international politics and on unconventional thinking that drives transcendent solutions and actions. Johan Galtung, the pioneering scholar of peace studies, writes a monthly editorial. http://transcend.org.

Global Voices: In addition to a multilingual news team reporting on people whose voices and experiences are rarely seen in mainstream media, Global Voices also provides training and mentorship to local underrepresented communities who want to tell their own stories using participatory media tools. Through the Advox team, Global Voices Online advocates for freedom of expression and focuses on legal, technical and physical threats to people who use the Internet to speak in the public interest. http://Globalvoices.org.

Transformation: Transformation, housed by OpenDemocracy, tells the stories of people combining personal and social change to re-imagine their society. Their publishing team believes that love, equality and social justice are the principles on which new forms of politics, economics and social activism can be built. Transformation provides a forum to explore how these principles can be put into practice. http://opendeemocry.net/en/transformatie.

Yes!: Rigorous reporting on the positive ways in which local communities respond to social problems, with insightful commentary that sparks constructive discourse. Yes!Magazine inspires people to build a more just, sustainable and compassionate world. The print and online editions of the magazine are ad-free and all website content is freely accessible. http://yesmagazine.org.

Positive news: This British source is a pioneer of constructive journalism – a new approach in media, rigorous and relevant journalism focused on progress, opportunity and solutions. They publish online daily and Positive News Magazine is published in print quarterly. http://positive.news/.

Below are a couple of Dutch-language websites with more information and news about nonviolence and peace.

De Vredessite: On this Dutch website you will find current peace news, a news archive dating back to 1998, a peace agenda, an overview of the Dutch peace movement and more. You can also subscribe to VredesNieuws, an e-mail newsletter published every 2 to 3 weeks. De Vredessite (The Peace Site) is provided by the Vredesbeweging Pais (Pais Peace Movement) in collaboration with 4 other peace organizations. https://www.vredessite.nl

VredesMagazine: (Peace Magazine) This is a quarterly magazine published by 6 collaborating Dutch peace organizations. The magazine can also be read online (in Dutch) as well as all back issues since 2008. https://www.vredesmagazine.nl