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From Dictatorship to Democracy
AuthorGene Sharp
LanguageEnglish & 30+ others
PublisherAlbert Einstein Institution
Publication date
1994; others
Publication placeUnited States; others
Published in English
1994
Pages93 (2010); others
ISBN9781880813096
OCLC706499601

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 (b. 1928), 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. As of 2012 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.[3][4][5][6]

Origin

This article is part of
a series about
Gene Sharp
Works
Films
Institution

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), in Bangkok, Thailand.[7]: 87–8  The book took several months to write as the author drew upon several decades of experience in scholarship on nonviolent action.[7]: 87 [8] 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.[7]: 88  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 Democracy

Three 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 Reading

Appendix 3 gives a step-by-step procedure for effectively translating FDTD into other languages.

Influence

Egyptian women in Arab Spring
Egyptian women protesting during the Arab Spring, Feb. 2011.

From Dictatorship to Democracy has been circulated worldwide and cited repeatedly as influencing movements such as the Arab Spring (pictured) in 2011.[3][4][5][6] 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."[7]: 88–9 

A CNN profile of Sharp in 2012 stated that FDTD had "spread like a virus," calling it a "viral pamphlet."[3] 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."[3]

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."[4]

Non-English Editions
From Dictatorship to Democracy
Language  Year  Information
Afan Oromo 2011 *[9] (Ethiopia)
Amharic 2007 *[10] (Ethiopia)
Arabic 2004, 2009 *[11] OCLC 743320612 70p (2004); OCLC 770709135 (2009) Radwan Ziadeh (intro.), Khaled Dar Omar (trans.). Beirut: Arab Scientific Publishers
Azeri 2005 *[12] OCLC 743320450 84p
Belarusian 2001, 2005 *[13] OCLC 770709132 68p
Burmese 1995 *[14] OCLC 85355067, OCLC 770709134 83p
Chin 2001 *[15] (Burma)
Chinese 2005 Traditional*[16] or simplified*[17] OCLC 74331687252p
Croatian 1999 OCLC 70965409 84p
Danish 2011 OCLC 770780462 139p, Jesper Jordan (trans.)
Dari 2011 *[18] Mohammad Raqib (trans.)(Afghanistan)
Dhivehi   ‡ (Maldives)
Farsi 2004 *[19] OCLC 743321251 48p (Iran)
French 2009 *[20] OCLC 743789703 137p, Dora Atger (trans). Paris: Harmattan
Georgian   ‡
German 2008, 2011 *[21] OCLC 725121629 Andreas Wirthensohn (trans.) Berlin: Parlando
Indonesian 1997 *[22] OCLC 68008711 108p, Abdurrahman Wahid, Franz Magnis-Suseno (preface), Sugeng Bahagijo (trans.). Jakarta: Pustaka Sinar Harapan
Italian 2011 *[23] Massimo Gardella (trans.) ISBN 978-88-6190-190-2
Jingpho 2001 *[24] (Myanmar)
Karen 2001 *[25] 1118p (Myanmar)
Khmer 2005 *[26] (Cambodia)
Kurdish   ‡
Kyrgyz 2005 *[27] 87p
Mon 2001 *[28] 142p (Myanmar)
Nepali   ‡
Pashto 2008 *[29]
Russian 2005 *[30] OCLC 70117352 221p, with Bruce Jenkins. Ekaterinburg: Ulʹtra Kulʹtura
Serbian 1999 *[31] 84p, Novi Sad: Civic Initiatives
Spanish 2003 *[32] Caridad Inda (trans.) ISBN 1-880813-13-0
Tibetan 2006, 2009 *[33] OCLC 609983386 173p, Padma-tshe-dbaṅ (trans)
Tigrinya 2006 *[34] (Eritrea)
Ukrainian 2004 *[35]
Uzbek   ‡
Vietnamese 2005 *[36] Viet Tan (trans.)
    *Listed on Albert Einstein Institution website
    ‡Listed by Sharp (2010)[37]

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.[5]

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.[38]

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.[39]

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."[6]

In June 2015, the Financial Times and Newsmax reported that the Chinese government had tried to buy language rights to FDTD:[40][41]

[L]ast year [in 2014]... a [Chinese] state-owned publisher contacted the Boston-based Albert Einstein Institution about acquiring the Chinese-language rights to Gene Sharp's "From Dictatorship to Democracy" — a seemingly odd request at a time when tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters had taken to the streets in Hong Kong, the newspaper notes.... [The Institution's Executive Director Jamila] Raqib thinks the publishers wanted to stop others from [printing the book] by "squatting" on the rights to it...[41]

FDTD has been reviewed in newspapers.[42]

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.[43]

Editions

The book was first published in 1993 in installments in Burmese and English in Khit Pyaing in Bangkok, Thailand. In 1994, it was issued as a booklet in both languages, with the assistance of the Committee for the Restoration of Democracy in Burma.[7][8][44] 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:

See also

References

  1. ^ From Dictatorship to Democracy, 4th U.S. Ed., p viii.
  2. ^ From Dictatorship to Democracy, 4th U.S. Ed., p iv.
  3. ^ a b c d Gene Sharp: A dictator's worst nightmare, Mairi Mackay, CNN, 2012-06-25, accessed 2012-06-25.
  4. ^ a b c Our foreign policy gap Archived October 24, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Professor Farakh A Khan, Daily Times, 2012-06-01, accessed 2012-06-25.
  5. ^ a b c Do not despair yet about dictators, David Gardner, The Financial Times Limited, 2012-06-25, accessed 2012-06-25.
  6. ^ a b c Velvet Gloves Over Iron Fists, Dwight Garner, The New York Times, 2012-06-10, accessed 2012-06-25.
  7. ^ a b c d e 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.
  8. ^ a b Gene Sharp, A Short History of “From Dictatorship to Democracy" Archived March 24, 2008, at the Wayback Machine 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)
  9. ^ Abbaa-Irreetirraa Gara Dimokraasii -- Wixina Qabsoo Bilisummaatiif Malu Albert Einstein Institution website (accessed 29 June 2012)
  10. ^ From Dictatorship to Democracy (Amharic) Albert Einstein Institution website (accessed 29 June 2012
  11. ^ من الدكتـــاتورية إلى الديمـــقراطية Albert Einstein Institution website (accessed 29 June 2012)
  12. ^ DİKTATURADAN DEMOKRATİYAYA DOĞRU: Azadliq üçün Konseptual Çərçivə Albert Einstein Institution website (accessed 29 June 2012)
  13. ^ Ад ДЫКТАТУРЫ да ДЭМАКРАТЫІ Albert Einstein Institution website (accessed 29 June 2012)
  14. ^ From Dictatorship to Democracy - Burmese Albert Einstein Institution website (accessed 29 June 2012)
  15. ^ Hranhram Uknak In Zapi Thimmi Democracy Uknak Ah Albert Einstein Institution website (accessed 29 June 2012
  16. ^ 從獨裁到民主: 解放運動的概念框架 Albert Einstein Institution website (accessed 29 June 2012)
  17. ^ 从独裁到民主: 解放运动的概念框架 Albert Einstein Institution website (accessed 29 June 2012)
  18. ^ از ديکتاتورى به ديموکراسى Albert Einstein Institution website (accessed 29 June 2012)
  19. ^ از ديکتاتوري به دموکراسي Albert Einstein Institution website (accessed 29 June 2012)
  20. ^ De la Dictature à La Démocratie Albert Einstein Institution website (accessed 29 June 2012)
  21. ^ Von der Diktatur zur Demokratie Albert Einstein Institution website (accessed 29 June 2012)
  22. ^ Menuju Demokrasi Tanpa Kekerasan: Kerangka Konseptual Untuk Pembebasan Albert Einstein Institution website (accessed 29 June 2012)
  23. ^ Dalla dittatura alla democrazia Albert Einstein Institution website (accessed 29 June 2012)
  24. ^ Gumshem Magam Lai Kaw Nna Dimokresi Lai De Albert Einstein Institution website (accessed 29 June 2012)
  25. ^ From Dictatorship to Democracy - Karen (Burma) Albert Einstein Institution website (accessed 29 June 2012)
  26. ^ From Dictatorship to Democracy (Khmer/Cambodian translation) Albert Einstein Institution website (accessed 29 June 2012)
  27. ^ ДИКТАТУРАДАН ДЕМОКРАТИЯГА Albert Einstein Institution website (accessed 29 June 2012)
  28. ^ From Dictatorship to Democracy - Mon (Burma) Albert Einstein Institution website (accessed 29 June 2012)
  29. ^ د ديکتاتورۍ نه ديموکراسۍ ته Albert Einstein Institution website (accessed 29 June 2012)
  30. ^ От ДИКТАТУРЫ к ДЕМОКРАТИИ Albert Einstein Institution website (accessed 29 June 2012)
  31. ^ Od diktature do demokratije: Rušimo prepreke gradimo mostove Albert Einstein Institution website (accessed 29 June 2012)
  32. ^ De la Dictadura a la Democracia Albert Einstein Institution website (accessed 29 June 2012)
  33. ^ From Dictatorship to Democracy (Tibetan) Albert Einstein Institution website (accessed 29 June 2012
  34. ^ From Dictatorship to Democracy (Tigrigna) Albert Einstein Institution website (accessed 29 June 2012)
  35. ^ Від диктатури до демократії: концептуальні засади здобуття свободи Albert Einstein Institution website (accessed 29 June 2012)
  36. ^ Từ Độc Tài đến Dân Chủ Albert Einstein Institution website (accessed 29 June 2012)
  37. ^ Page 89 of Gene Sharp (2010). From Dictatorship to Democracy (4th English language edition, 2010) Archived February 9, 2006, at the Wayback Machine (accessed 29 June 2012)
  38. ^ BBC (29 November 2004). "Role of Serbian Resistance movement in Ukrainian protests detailed". Excerpt from report by Jelena Tusup: "Ukrainian 'resistance' According to Serbian recipe" by Serbian newspaper Blic on 28 November (accessed 30 June 2012)
  39. ^ Stolberg, Sheryl Gay (December 16, 2011). "Shy U.S. Intellectual Created Playbook Used in a Revolution". New York Times. Retrieved 18 December 2011.
  40. ^ Mitchell, Tom (18 June 2015). "China worries about Hong Kong civil disobedience reaching mainland". Financial Times. p. 4. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  41. ^ a b Burke, Cathy (19 June 2015). "China Tries to Buy 'Democracy' Protest Book". Newsmax. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  42. ^ 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
  43. ^ "Angolan rapper Luaty Beirao accused of rebellion". BBC. 16 November 2015. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  44. ^ Copyright page of [1] (accessed 29 June 2012)
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