Nonviolent resistance (
NVR or
nonviolent action) is the practice of achieving
goals such as social change through
symbolic protests,
civil disobedience, economic or political noncooperation,
satyagraha, or other methods, without using
violence. This type of action highlights the desires of an individual or group that feels that something needs to change to improve the current condition of the resisting person or group. It is largely but wrongly taken as synonymous with
civil resistance. Each of these terms ("nonviolent resistance" and "civil resistance") has its distinct merits and also quite different connotations and commitments, which are briefly explored in the entry on
civil resistance.