Talk:Gene Sharp

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Comment[edit]

Any relation to Zerna Sharp?

(Very funny). Hey, I've searched everywhere for the date of birth of this amazing human being and can't find it. Does anyone have a clue? (Alpheus 21:45, 12 November 2005 (UTC))[reply]

And then there were two[edit]

...dates of birth. Rothorpe (talk) 19:23, 31 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

............

unable to figure out how to directly correct a factual error myself maybe someone else would kindly do so ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Sharp

the error is a simple obvious factual error

text: Sharp's influence on struggles worldwide Most recently, it is claimed that the protest movement that toppled President Mubarak of Egypt drew extensively on his ideas, as well as the youth movement in Tunisia and the earlier ones in the Eastern European color revolutions that had previously been inspired by Sharp's work, although some have claimed Sharp's influence has been exaggerated by Westerners looking for a Lawrence of Arabia figure.[8][9] However, a Google search of Gene Sharp's name in Arabic turns up no hits.

a simple check found this to be totally wrong

gene sharp in arabic is جين شارب

using the google translator ... from english to arabic http://translate.google.com/?hl=en#en%7Car%7Cgene%20sharp

step two insert the arabic translation of gene sharp into google arabic

http://www.google.ae/

and the serach result is http://www.google.ae/search?hl=ar&source=hp&ie=windows-1256&q=%CC%ED%E4+%D4%C7%D1%C8&btnG=%C8%CD%CB+Google%FE&meta=&aq=f&aqi=g1&aql=&oq=

clearly the article's author is wrong in that there are 109,000,000 results which is greater than "no hits"

pleased to be able to correct this obvious error, though indirectly, if posssible

i'm sure it was not dont in an attempt to downplay or minimize the pivotal role of gene sharp in many global revolutions —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.148.153.219 (talk) 20:29, 6 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Please see the section below, "Google search on Gene Sharp" for clarification about this issue. Piperh (talk) 07:41, 7 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

POV tag[edit]

This comes across as a propaganda piece written by someone associated with that particular organisation. Hence the POV tag has been inserted and will remain until someone makes an attempt to clarify who or what this person is in a more balanced article. Fourohfour 11:19, 6 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Well, some of the "colorful revolutions", like Otpor's revolution in Serbia and the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, are said to have been funded by Western sources. That doesn't mean that they were "fake people power", necessarily, but there's some engineering going on in there.

But that doesn't make Gene Sharp a villain: he's still the guy who wrote that book that inspired those colorful revolutions...it seems to me that before you slap a POV tag on an article, you should have a specific and informed criticism of your own. Katsam7:04, 10 December 2005

I didn't accuse him of being a villain, so don't suggest otherwise.

I said the article came across as very uncritical of the guy, like a promotional piece written by a supporter. Maybe he did inspire them. However, I'd like to see something that came across as *trying* to be more neutral than the article currently is. That was the extent of my criticism. Fourohfour 13:54, 11 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I put in some criticisms of Sharp and took out the POV tag.Katsam 08:46, 20 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Fair enough. Here's a couple of links saying Gene Sharp and his Albert Einstein foundation are anticommunist agitators with links to the CIA. Some see the "color revolutions" as "soft coup d'etats", and Sharp's organization has advised not only the Serbian/Ukrainian/Georgian oppositions, but also the folks who tried to overthrow Hugo Chavez...

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Albert_Einstein_Institution http://www.voltairenet.org/article30032.html That's a little more balance, no? Do you think that voltairenet article is reputable enough to count as a source here? Katsam 2:05, 12 December 2005

Well, the article uses "weasel words" such as "some people" (who?) "believe" (x,y,z) to support assertions that Sharp is associated with (DoD, anti-Communist movements, you name it). The voltairenet article, while interesting and filled with data, is unstubstantiated quackery. So there seem to be some POV problems here. --216.135.36.37 06:17, 12 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I don't think anyone links Sharp to the Department of Defense. But some of those assertions are substantiable: for instance, I found a link to a Reuters article discussing the AEI training Venezuelan opposition to Hugo Chavez (I inserted the link but it's on a page called burmanet, you'll have to scroll down).

I also found an article in Peace Magazine that talked about how the Serbian nonviolent youth group Otpor was trained and funded by the AEI and NED. It wasn't entirely clear from Peace Magazine whether the NED was funding the AEI or just funding Otpor, but a quick search yielded a link to the AEI's archive at Swarthmore where it's visible that the AEI has repeatedly sought donations from the NED.

So I don't agree that the criticism is POV, unless you can make a case that the majority of Sharp's work hasn't focused on the nonviolent toppling of Communist governments. Katsam

Sharp's Central Theory[edit]

I have a problem with the way Sharp's central theory in his book Politics of Nonviolent Action has been described. What is said about this threory is not, as it exists, incorrect but it is not actually a picture of his threories on political power and action which are the central problems the book addresses. Right now the description laid out in the article merely describes a possible product or outcome of the application of Sharp's thesis but it is not the thesis itself. I am going to provide a basic outline of these theories to clarify this crucial distinction.

It's fine to mention that Sharp's theory resembles Hume's, but I think to put the whole quote in is a little bit of overkill (considering this is Gene Sharp's entry and not Hume's)Katsam 09:44, 7 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Venezuela[edit]

Somebody keeps removing references to Sharp's contribution to the attempted coup of 2002 in Venezuela. I guess unlike Serbia and the Ukraine, that's not one he wants advertised, huh? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.245.79.81 (talk) 03:50, 29 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You should assume good faith, although your cynicism is understandable. In reality, the reasoning is more complex. In an interview to Peace Magazine, Sharp claims to have never been to Venezuela, and that he does not know much about it; in other words, implying that he could not have contributed to the coup. Thus any claims about his involvement with the 2002 coup need to be referenced with credible sources, otherwise the libel issue arises.

See also Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons.--Riurik^(discuss) 06:13, 29 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Ok, thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.243.112.204 (talk) 23:44, 30 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Gene Sharp didn't go to Venezuela in 2002, but the head of Sharp's thinktank (Robert Helvey) went to train Venezuelan dissidents in 2003. Here's part of a Reuters article about it:

US democracy expert teaches Venezuelan opposition By Pascal Fletcher CARACAS, Venezuela, April 30 (Reuters) - Retired U.S. army colonel Robert Helvey has trained pro-democracy activists in several parts of the world so he knows something about taking on military regimes and political strongmen. Now he is imparting his skills in Venezuela, invited by opponents of President Hugo Chavez who accuse the leftist leader of ruling like a dictator in the world's No. 5 oil exporter. ... After initially declining to answer questions, Helvey, a former U.S. military attache in Burma and now a consultant with the private U.S. Albert Einstein Institution that promotes non-violent action in conflicts, told Reuters non-violence was the key to the tactics he taught.

I've posted links to that article before but someone keeps taking them down. Katsam (talk) 03:34, 16 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

New Source[edit]

Interesting background on Sharp's influence on the Arab democracy movement.[1] -- WeijiBaikeBianji (talk, how I edit) 01:01, 15 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

And more yesterday: Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Shy U.S. Intellectual Created Playbook Used in a Revolution, New York Times, 16 February 2011. Probably some good material for anyone interested in expanding the article. - Jmabel | Talk 03:26, 18 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I wouldn't believe anything the NY Times has to say recently. I did a Google search of Gene Sharp's name in Arabic. No hits at all. This is pure PR. The guy is exaggerating his importance. This is on March 7th 2011. Watch him put in some Arabic pages to get hits and make his claim come true. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mischimischi (talk • contribs) 22:29, 5 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Google search on Gene Sharp in Arabic[edit]

With reference to the confusion about Google searches on Gene Sharp's name:

It is necessary to keep in mind that a search on a name that contains a common noun like "gene" and a common adjective like "sharp" will return a huge number of irrelevant hits unless the name is enclosed in quote marks, thus: "gene sharp"

Keeping this in mind, follow this procedure:

1. Go to the www.google.com search page.

2. Click Language Tools.

3. In the Search for: box, type "Gene Sharp" enclosing the name in quote marks as I have done here.

4. Click the radio button Specific languages.

5. Choose Arabic.

6. Click Translate and Search.

When I follow these steps, I get 14,800 hits, and nearly all of them are clearly about the person in question, as they mention the Albert Einstein Institution, nonviolent resistance, or other key words and phrases that are obviously related. You will also notice that Google will often translate Sharp's name from Arabic to English as "Jane Sharp" rather than "Gene Sharp," suggesting that there is probably not a single way to transliterate his first name into Arabic.

The statement that "a Google search of Gene Sharp's name in Arabic turns up no hits" has been removed from the article.

Piperh (talk) 07:36, 7 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I can confirm that. I speak Arabic - an Egyptian actually - and Sharp's book about Dictatorship was a Great influence on the educated men and women who organised the revolt. Here you can see the Results of Google Search in Arabic http://www.google.com/search?q=%22%D8%AC%D9%8A%D9%86+%D8%B4%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A8%22&hl=en&lr=lang_ar&safe=off&tbo=1&biw=1024&bih=621&tbs=lr:lang_1ar&prmd=ivns&ei=jr17TYGIE8eSswbWztnuBw&start=30&sa=N More than 30000 Hits.

Mando Salama (talk) 18:42, 12 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

http://globalvoicesonline.org/2011/04/15/egypt-gene-sharp-taught-us-how-to-revolt/ maybe not —Preceding unsigned comment added by 188.74.110.134 (talk) 15:37, 16 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Add[edit]

With Srdja Popovic (Srđa Popović), in 2011 Gene Sharp was named by Foreign Policy magazine to its list of top global thinkers.^[1]

See Otpor!#Srđa Popović and Ivan Marović. 99.181.139.218 (talk) 04:49, 4 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

References

^ http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/11/28/the_fp_top_100_global_thinkers?page=0,8#thinker9

2007/2011 resource, The Progressive[edit]

- Gene Sharp interview by Amitabh Pal, March 2007 Issue

Amitabh Pal, February 17, 2011

Gene Sharp's Nonviolent Impact by Amitabh Pal, February 17, 2011

97.87.29.188 (talk) 00:24, 9 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Photo candidates - adequate permissions? (timely for possible Nobel Prize winner next week)[edit]

There's been a request for a photo of Gene Sharp for quite some time, but no responses. Using the search tool that was mentioned in the template above, I see that there do seem to be some photos at Flickr. I wonder if someone who is an expert on photo permissions could tell us if any or all of these photos could be used in Wikipedia. Here are the links, in rough order of my own preference

[2] Closeup by chiarelettere; looks like a crop may have been used in publicity for the recent movie about Gene Sharp, How to Start a Revolution
[3] closeup, dark, by TwoCircles
[4] 45 degree view, distant, by TwoCircles

Possible Timeliness!: Getting a photo up could be timely, and put Wikipedia in a good light, since Gene Sharp is being mentioned in the media as one of the top 2 candidates for the 2012 Nobel Peace prize, to be announced next week on 12 October 2012. If anyone has the expertise to take this on, that would be great! Thanks -- Presearch (talk) 00:36, 7 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Removing pamphlets from list of "major works"[edit]

A few months ago someone added a subsection "1950s" under major works, and within that subsection added three entries. On closer inspection via Worldcat, all of these entries are merely journal articles or pamphlets. Thus they do not merit being under the header "major works". In my opinion they do not need to be listed on the page at all, since listing all of Sharp's pamphlets and journal articles seems more appropriate for his CV or his own website. However, it's possible someone will disagree. If you move them back, please make sure to treat them as merely minor works, and please be prepared to make a good case that minor works should be listed on the page. Here they are, as listed now in the "1950s" subsection, plus some newly added links to Worldcat and some libraries that actually revealed the page lengths.

A Typology of Non-violence, Periodical Mankind 12/1956, India (a revised version appeared in 1959: HERE, and it is only 26 pages. The first page says the typology's very first version was in Sharp's 1951 MA thesis. A chapter on this topic appeared much later as Ch. 10 in Gandhi as a Political Strategist) (26 pages)
Which Way To Freedom, Cardiff 1957, idem Auf anderen Wegen, Hamburg 1958; OCLC 49683475, National Library of Scotland book page (16 pages)
Tyranny could not quell them - How Norway's Teachers Defeated Quisling During the Nazi Occupation ..., London 1958; OCLC 210260 (23 pages)

After saving this comment, I will delete the "1950s" subsection. --Presearch (talk) 06:46, 28 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

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2011 Boston Film Festival awards[edit]

It's very weird that the website doesn't show the 2011 awards even at the end of the year or in early 2012. --Espoo (talk) 08:10, 2 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Criticism - Ciccariello-Maher[edit]

Editors are invited to improve the article by providing a specific summary of Ciccariello-Maher's criticism. I do not have access to the source. sirlanz 00:33, 2 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

[1] ttp://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/11/28/the_fp_top_100_global_thinkers?page=0,8#thinker9

[1]