Looking back at the stories Waging Nonviolence readers found most interesting and inspiring is always one of our favorite ways to close out the year. But the horrors and tragedies of 2023 have left many wanting to do as little with the news as possible. Recent polls have shown a major drop in Americans’ news consumption. Even the New Yorker was forced to reflect on this phenomenon as an explanation for why its top 25 stories list had nothing about the war in Gaza, Trump or politics.
We’re proud — and not at all surprised — to say that our list is very different. Where New Yorker readers escaped into true crime and the story of a fugitive princess, Waging Nonviolence readers leaned into stories about the war in Gaza and many other polarizing political and world issues.
Our top stories list shows exactly what you want: original reporting and analysis on what everyday people around the world are doing to build a more just and peaceful society. And that’s exactly what we’ll continue to do in 2024. But as a very small media organization with no major foundation support, pay wall or ad revenue, our ability to bring you these stories is directly tied to the support we receive from readers.
Please help us close the gap on our absolutely crucial end-of-year fundraising goal of $20,000 with a tax-deductible donation today.
WNV’s most-read stories of 2023
10. The first boat to protest nuclear weapons is back to inspire a new generation
By Arnie Alpert
65 years ago, the Golden Rule ignited protests that led to a partial ban on nuclear weapons testing. Now it’s back to fight for nothing short of abolition.
9. What’s next for Extinction Rebellion after a disappointing success?
By Douglas Rogers
The British climate movement’s ‘Big One’ brought out record numbers, but ran into a wall of silence. XR’s new strategy could turn this setback into a new lease on life.
8. Europe’s climate movement is fractured and stuck — here is a way forward
By Nicolò Wojewoda
To regain momentum, we must organize with and lift up those on the new frontlines of the climate crisis.
7. How worker ownership builds community wealth and a more just society
By Pamela Haines
Community wealth building initiatives are taking hold in cities across the world, strengthening worker pay, local economies and democracy.
6. Lessons from Gramsci for social movements today
By Mark Engler and Paul Engler
From Gramsci’s political thinking and practical strategizing come a set of ideas that arguably have only grown more salient with time.
5. How Jewish nonviolence can help guide the path forward on Israel-Palestine
By Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb
As a rabbi committed to the practice of Jewish nonviolence, I know a long road of reparative action stretches before us. But it’s the only way.
4. Survivors of Oppenheimer’s Trinity test are still fighting for justice and recognition
By Alessandra Bergamin
Nearly 80 years after the first atomic test in New Mexico, a consortium of “downwinders” are documenting the bomb’s impact on their community and organizing for restitution.
3. Lessons from Barcelona’s 8-year experiment in radical governance
By Mark Engler and Paul Engler
Activists who took over Barcelona’s City Hall have made lasting progressive gains, while also confronting the limits of being in power.
2. 3 key insights for building a powerful and loving movement against oppression in Palestine-Israel
By Rae Abileah and Nadine Bloch
In a destabilizing moment like this, we need time-tested strategies and tactics that can help guide effective action.
1. 7 steps to end the cycle of violence in Israel and Palestine
By Mubarak Awad
The path to peace requires nonviolent action not just from Israelis and Palestinians, but also Americans, the media, aid organizations and others.
Additional favorites from the editors
How cleverly subversive nicknames for China’s president fuel dissent
By Xiao Huamei
By using nicknames to disguise their dissatisfaction with Xi Jinping, Chinese people are building the kind of courage that has inspired recent protests.
How Russians, Indigenous people and Belarusians are uniting to resist the war in Ukraine
By Eleftheria Kousta
Antiwar activists in Russia are finding support and solidarity in a growing resistance network comprised of Russian diaspora, Indigenous and ethnic minorities and Belarusians.
Prisoners reignite movement to end mass incarceration
By Raymond Williams
A 50-year-old organization led by prisoners with life sentences has emerged from a COVID shutdown to fight for the abolition of legalized slavery.
A major win against factory farming points to a powerful new direction for the climate movement
By Nick Engelfried
Small farmers in Oregon, backed by a coalition of animal rights and climate activists, secured a big legislative victory over industrial factory farms, providing inspiration for wider action.
Disabled Southerners are building new paths to grassroots power
By Justin A. Davis
New Disabled South co-founder Dom Kelly discusses how disability justice can address the region’s most urgent political crises.
Louisville’s multiracial tenant union is at the forefront of a growing national movement
By Fran Quigley
Despite the South’s challenging political geography, Black and white tenants are transforming Louisville and setting the pace for the wider movement.
Inside the underground network supporting asylum seekers in Scotland
By Agatha Scaggiante
A movement led by people with lived experience of the U.K. immigration system has sprung up to fight for more humane treatment and housing for refugees.
