{"product_id":"9780815653400","title":"Humor and Nonviolent Struggle in Serbia","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"If I had no sense of humor, I should long ago have committed suicide,\" wrote\u003cbr\u003ethe late Mahatma Gandhi, expressing the potent power of humor to sustain and\u003cbr\u003euplift. Less obvious is humor’s ability to operate as a cunning weapon in nonviolent\u003cbr\u003eprotest movements. Over the last few decades, activists are increasingly\u003cbr\u003eincorporating subversive laughter in their protest repertoires, realizing the ways\u003cbr\u003ein which it challenges the ruling elite’s propaganda, defuses antagonism, and\u003cbr\u003einspires both participants and the greater population.\u003cbr\u003e In this highly original and engaging work, Sombatpoonsiri explores the\u003cbr\u003enexus between humor and nonviolent protest, aiming to enhance our understanding\u003cbr\u003eof the growing popularity of humor in protest movements around the\u003cbr\u003eworld. Drawing on insights from the pioneering Otpor activists in Serbia, she\u003cbr\u003eprovides a detailed account of the protesters’ systematic use of humor to topple\u003cbr\u003eSlobadan Miloševic’ in 2000. Interviews with activists, protest newsletters, and\u003cbr\u003edocumentaries of the movement combine to illustrate how humor played a pivotal\u003cbr\u003erole by reflecting the absurdity of the regime’s propaganda and, in turn, by\u003cbr\u003edelegitimizing its authority. Sombatpoonsiri highlights the Otpor activists’ ability\u003cbr\u003eto internationalize their nonviolent crusade, influencing youth movements in the\u003cbr\u003eUkraine, Georgia, Iran, and Egypt. Globally, Otpor’s successful use of humor\u003cbr\u003ebecame an inspiration for a later generation of protest movements.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Syracuse University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47107396960496,"sku":"9780815653400","price":45.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780815653400_p0.jpg?v=1763745191","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780815653400","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}