ABSTRACT
This introductory chapter examines the intersections between the two research foci and their empirical groundings in democracies and nondemocracies, and especially this last category where so much of the nonviolence literature has focused. Charles Tilly was a prescient analyst of the history of protest and politics and a leading theorist of contentious politics. He had little to say about nonviolence as a strategy, but a lot to say about the highly relevant concept of protest repertoires, their historical evolution, and their relation to the state – and, of course, nonviolent tactics are one element of the modern protest repertoire. In the study of nonviolent movements, the realm of ideational constructs is absolutely central because herein reside the guiding principles of the struggle, whose normative guidance and moral authority vis-à-vis the state are key elements of how contention unfolds. Also, the role of religious beliefs in nonviolent movements resides.
