About MNS

This site presents the many vital impacts of Movement for a New Society: Nonviolent Action Training, Analysis, Vision, Strategy. Indeed, from 1971-1988, MNS was a global training and action network of local and transnational groups. That’s how MNS successfully developed and “spread tools, skills and consciousness for effective nonviolent social change.” Moreover, MNSers trained, inspired and empowered thousands of progressive activists and organizations on all continents. So many have gone on to continue to lead and develop numerous subsequent campaigns and groups. MORE

Authors & Books

MNS members have published thousands of articles, books and videos fostering Movement for a New Society’s “analysis, training, strategy” worldwide. In addition to founders and top strategists George Lakey and Bill Moyer, over a dozen other MNS leaders have also collectively founded and/or dramatically developed scores of organizations, campaigns and projects. These include two activist publishing houses: New Society Publishers and Common Courage Press. MORE
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Read “Oppose and Propose: Lessons from MNS.”

Strategy & Tactics

“For every thousand hacking at the branches of evil, there’s only one digging at its roots.”
– Henry David Thoreau

Veteran organizers from the Civil Rights, anti-war, peace and other movements for nonviolent progressive social change of the 1950s-60s, founded MNS in 1971. Its leaders fostered and further developed the “hands-on” and “in-the-streets” experience, teachings, strategies and tactics pioneered by Gandhi, King and others. Thus they successfully integrated these with theories and findings of experts and academics such as Dr. Gene Sharp.
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Training

“Be the change you wish to see.” – M.K. Gandhi

MNS established and ran activist training centers through the 1970s and 1980s in Philadelphia and other cities across North America, until formally disbanding in 1988. However, in that year, George Lakey and Barbara Smith co-founded TRAINING FOR CHANGE. Moreover, MNS alums Betsy Raasch-Gilman, Erika Thorne and Nancy Brigham were its chief co-developers. So find links to its website, resources and opportunities for Nonviolent Action Training, Analysis, Vision, Strategy, at ActivistTraining.org