Flagship Course • Free ForeverNonviolence in Practice
Communication, Resistance & Repair — NVC, NVR and Restorative Justice
Gandhi gave the twentieth century a philosophy of nonviolence. This course teaches the working methods that grew from it — three canonical traditions that turn ahimsa into concrete skill. Nonviolent Communication (Marshall Rosenberg) for the interpersonal moment; Non-Violent Resistance / New Authority (Haim Omer) for holding a firm, non-escalating line in families, care work and institutions; and Restorative Justice (Howard Zehr and the circle traditions) for repairing harm in communities and systems. We teach each canon in full, trace its indigenous and South Asian roots, take its feminist and decolonial critiques seriously, and end in fieldcraft. Sits alongside our Gandhi and Social-Emotional Learning flagships.
Rosenberg · NVC
Omer · NVR
Zehr · Restorative Justice
South Asian Roots
11 Modules + Capstone3 Canonical TraditionsCritique & Fieldcraft48-Term Lexicon
Interactive Lexicon
Assess YourselfThree traditions, one commitment: conflict without domination.
Nonviolence is often taught as either high philosophy (Gandhi, King) or as a slogan. This course sits in between — in the craft. Each of the three traditions answers a different practical question, and each operates at a different scale. Read in order, they form a ladder from the interpersonal to the institutional.
- Nonviolent Communication (NVC) — Marshall Rosenberg, 1960s–70s. The interpersonal unit. How to speak and listen so that a hard conversation stays connected: observations, feelings, needs, requests. Answers: how do I stay in dialogue when I'm angry or afraid?
- Non-Violent Resistance / New Authority (NVR) — Haim Omer, 1990s–2000s. The authority relationship. How a parent, teacher, carer or manager can firmly resist harmful behaviour without escalating into force or capitulating into helplessness. Answers: how do I hold a line without domination?
- Restorative Justice (RJ) — Howard Zehr and the circle traditions, 1970s onward (with far older indigenous roots). The community and institutional layer. How a group repairs the harm of wrongdoing by centring those harmed, obligations, and re-integration rather than punishment. Answers: what does accountability look like when the goal is repair, not retribution?
All three descend, directly or indirectly, from the Gandhian insight that means and ends are inseparable — that you cannot build a peaceful outcome through coercive means. But they are practitioner methods, not creeds: this course teaches them at canonical depth and names what each cannot do. Module 9 gives the critiques (power asymmetry, gender-based violence, co-optation) their due; Module 10 is about knowing which tool the situation actually calls for.
See also: Gandhi's Political Thought (flagship) · Social-Emotional Learning (flagship) · Conflict-Sensitive Programming Lab
The Ground the Three Traditions Stand On
Marshall Rosenberg's Language of Life
Haim Omer's New Authority
Repair Instead of Retribution
From Canon to Craft
Capstone Project
Turn the three canons into a defensible, real-world plan. Choose a live conflict or harm from your own practice (suitably anonymised) and work it through all three lenses.
Design a Nonviolent Response
Diagnose
Describe the conflict or harm. Map the parties, the needs beneath their positions, the power differences, and any safety risks. Decide honestly whether a nonviolent process is appropriate — and say why.
Apply the three lenses
Write an NVC reframe of the key exchange (OFNR + one empathic guess); sketch an NVR plan if an authority relationship is involved (announcement, self-control, two supporters, one reconciliation gesture); and design a restorative process (who is centred, what format, the three questions).
Critique your own plan
Name the risks: where could this replicate power, coerce, re-traumatise, or romanticise the community? What safeguards will you build? When would you not proceed?
Facilitation script
Produce a one-page facilitation script or run-of-show you could actually use, grounded in the Module 11 arc.
Deliverables
- A 4–6 page case memo covering all four phases
- One usable facilitation script or announcement letter
- An explicit "when I would not do this" section
Assess Yourself — Nonviolence in Practice
Six auto-graded questions across all three traditions. Pick an answer and check it; each explains the reasoning. Nothing is stored and there's no sign-in.
Practice the Material & Continue Learning
Every flagship course is part of a wider open-source learning network. The cards below cross-link this course with hands-on labs, AI study companions, foundational 101 decks, book summaries, reference handouts, live dojos, and premium tools.
Apply Do No Harm principles, analyse conflict actors and drivers, and make adapt/suspend/exit calls in fragile contexts.
48 searchable terms across NVC, NVR and Restorative Justice — from OFNR and self-empathy to reintegrative shaming and family group conferencing.
Free 100-slide foundational primers that pair well with this flagship:
Interactive book companions across the ImpactMojo library that deepen this flagship.
85 print-optimised handouts across 10 tracks — methods, ethics, frameworks, lexicons, quick-reference cards.
56 weekly dojo sessions in the South Asian dev-practitioner cohort — case clinics, paper discussions, live Q&A.
9 premium tools (live + coming soon) plus 1:1 coaching, cohort access, and certificates. Sliding-scale pricing.