Nonviolent Action Lab Ash Center

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Dec 31, 2025, 12:03 AM

Lead Research Fellow for the Nonviolent Action Lab, AY2025-2026 Frank Stanton Professor of the First Amendment Research Fellow, November 2025-April 2026 Research Project Manager, Nonviolent Action Lab Democracy Visiting Fellow, Reimagining Democracy Program, AY2024-2025 Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Nonviolent Action Lab, AY2025-2026 The Nonviolent Action Lab at Harvard Kennedy School‘s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation—one of the two institutional pillars of this project, along with the University of Connecticut—dropped the first two episodes of...

As the we say in the promo blurb: The Nonviolent Action Lab Podcast brings you the latest research, insights, and ideas on how nonviolent action can — or sometimes fails — to transform injustice. Each week we welcome experts from the field, scholars, organizers, and advocates to discuss nonviolent movements around the world. You can listen and subscribe via Simplecast. Episode 1 features a conversation between Lab director Dean/Prof. Erica Chenoweth and me about what the Lab does, how we’re hoping to grow that work, and some of the trends Erica sees in nonviolent resistance and democratization around the world right now.

In Episode 2, I talk with Prof. Désirée Weber from the College of Wooster about the long-running Black Lives Matter demonstrations she helped organize there after George Floyd’s murder and the effects those demonstrations had on local policing and the participants... The Nonviolent Action Lab is an innovation hub for activists, researchers, and supporters who share common goals around defending and advancing democracy worldwide through civil resistance — protests, demonstrations, and other actions. The mission of the Roy and Lila Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation is to develop ideas and foster practices for equal and inclusive, multiracial and multiethnic democracy and self-government. The Ash Center believes that diverse perspectives are paramount to better understanding and addressing real-world problems. As a global community that brings together students, faculty, staff, and fellows, with practitioners and policymakers from around the world, we focus on advancing excellence in democracy and self-government.

We are committed to fostering an environment of rigor, curiosity, and integrity. As a Center, we therefore value and respect different opinions, lived experiences, and diverse research and policy areas and approaches. We continue to strive for excellence while creating an equitable and inclusive community for all. The Ash Center is proud to be part of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Harvard Kennedy School’s mission is to improve public policy and leadership so people can live in societies that are more safe, free, just, and sustainably prosperous.

By combining cutting-edge research, the teaching of outstanding students, and direct interaction with practitioners, we have an impact on solving public problems that no other institution can match. Students and alumni of Harvard Kennedy School are showing their commitment to public service in their countries, states, cities, and tribal governments around the world. Archon Fung, Winthrop Laflin McCormack Professor of Citizenship and Self-Government at Harvard Kennedy School, was appointed director of the Ash Center in July 2022. His research explores policies, practices, and institutional designs that deepen the quality of democratic governance with a focus on public participation, deliberation, and transparency. He has authored five books, four edited collections, and over fifty articles appearing in professional journals. He received two S.B.s — in philosophy and physics — and his Ph.D.

in political science from MIT. To listen to explicit episodes, sign in. Sign in or sign up to follow shows, save episodes, and get the latest updates. Podchaser is the ultimate destination for podcast data, search, and discovery. Learn More A story we published months ago in PJ Media about a protest training program run by a U.S.

congresswoman and a Harvard educator to get mobs "street ready" to oust President Donald Trump is now getting some high-profile national attention, especially after Democrats are calling for a shooting war. In April, Washington State Rep. Pramila Jayapal and Harvard Kennedy School's Erica Chenoweth, "who studies nonviolent civil resistance against authoritarianism," announced a series of trainings to get the mob ready for the anti-Elon Musk, anti-DOGE, and anti-Tesla protests. This training was undertaken when Tesla's showrooms were being routinely firebombed, cars were being vandalized, and Tesla drivers were openly threatened by leftist tyrants. This was also against the backdrop of a disturbing poll that found that "55% of self-identified left-leaning respondents said it would be at least 'somewhat justified' to assassinate Donald Trump." 🚨BREAKING: A new study by @ncri_io reveals a chilling trend: younger generations condone violence, and social media helps normalize it.After the murder of @UHC CEO Brian Thompson, online platforms like Bl*esky exploded with memes,...

🧵 pic.twitter.com/RaoEq7HXH8 It's clear that these allegedly super smart™ people, who claim to embrace non-violence, had inserted this training in the middle of a violent milieu with the open objective of ginning up enough discontent to... I reported at the time in the piece called "Well, Lookie Here: Congresswoman and Harvard Prof Are Caught Planning Massive Anti-Trump Riots":

Nonviolent Action Lab Ash Center

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