Nonviolent protest across ethnic divides: Pakistan’s Pashtun Tahafuz Movement and Lawyers’ Movement

How do ethnic cleavages impact unarmed resistance campaigns? Recent scholarship has observed that members of ethnic minorities have achieved lower rates of success when employing nonviolent tactics than members of dominant groups. These studies have frequently proposed mechanisms, but few have tested whether dynamics in real-world cases align with these mechanisms. This paper presents a comparative case analysis of two movements in Pakistan—the Lawyers’ Movement of 2007–2009 and the ongoing Pashtun Tahafuz Movement—drawing on original interviews with activists from both movements. It offers an in-depth examination of how ethnicity impacts dynamics of mobilization, regime response, and transnational support. The findings shed new light on the unique obstacles minorities face when using nonviolent tactics as well as alternative strategies that might help overcome them.