Grassroots and Gewaltfreie Aktionen: A Study of Mass Mobilization Strategies in the West German Peace Movement

Abstract

The West German peace movement of the eighties has been subject to many of the 'ebbs and flows' cha racteristic of protest movements of the late sixties and early seventies, with one important exception. In contrast to the more doctrinaire Marxist/socialist orientations evinced by those earlier movements, the mobilization against the deployment of Pershing II and cruise missiles has been grounded in sincere ef forts on the part of core activists to develop a German tradition of non-violence and civil disobedience. The author presents a catalogue of strategies employed by movement participants since the pro mulgation of the 1979 NATO double-track decision, divided into the subcategories of consciousness- raising or 'mobilization' activities, and direct action or 'escalation' activities. The extensive but by no means comprehensive list of possible protest actions seeks to maximize the opportunities for participa tion and to intensify one's personal identification with the movement at the grassroots level. Even though they have proved unsuccessful in blocking additional theater nuclear deployments, peace pro testers are judged to have contributed significantly to the 'democratization' of postwar German society.