Schweik Action Wollongong

SAW is a small voluntary group in Wollongong, Australia, fostering awareness of nonviolent responses to aggression and repression, most active from 1986 to 2010.

Nonviolent action

includes leafletting, rallies, strikes, boycotts, sit-ins, fasts and many other methods of social action. Nonviolent action allows widespread participation, maximises the potential for dialogue and tends to discourage violence by opponents. At the same time, nonviolent action has immense potential power to transform society. It was a key factor in the Indian independence movement, the US civil rights movement, the toppling of Philippines dictator Marcos in 1986, the collapse of Eastern European communist regimes in 1989, and many other historical struggles.

Social defence

is nonviolent community resistance to aggression as an alternative to military defence. It is based on widespread protest, persuasion, noncooperation and intervention in order to oppose military aggression or repression. It uses methods such as boycotts, acts of disobedience, strikes, demonstrations and setting up alternative institutions. No society has yet made systematic efforts to develop the capacity for social defence. Schweik Action Wollongong seeks to learn how to best promote this alternative.

Schweik Action's projects have included

• A report on behind-the-scenes work in activism: Behind the activism
• A checklist for preparing a group for possible attacks: Safeguarding your group (in Word or pdf).
• Commenting on happiness and social action: Active happiness (Danish translation)
• Interviews with Muslims in Wollongong to find out what can help to resist discrimination and government repression: Defending Muslims in Wollongong.
• Interviews with experienced nonviolent activists about what they have learned: Nonviolence insights
• Interviews with feminist activists, exploring insights about action and organisation: Feminists look left.
• Development of exercises to build a group's internal networks: Strengthening communication in groups
• A study of how to use nonviolent action to challenge bureaucratic elites: Challenging Bureaucratic Elites.
• Interviews with telecommunications experts to learn how the technology can be used to support nonviolent struggle: Telecommunications for nonviolent struggle.
• Organisation of the first Australian social defence conference, in 1990.
• A study of how the post office could support social defence: The Australian Post Office and social defence.

Along the way, we

• network with nonviolent activists in Australia and other countries;
• write leaflets and articles (see links above);
• provide mutual support and enjoy ourselves in meetings.

See "Schweik in Wollongong", an account of the group published in 2006.

The group is named after the fictional character Schweik (or Svejk), a soldier who created havoc in the Austrian army during World War I by pretending to be extremely stupid. See Jaroslav Hasek, The Good Soldier Svejk and His Fortunes in the World War (Penguin, 1974).