Experienced nonviolent activist and author to speak at Lycoming College

Lycoming College is pleased to welcome activist George Lakey for a talk on successful student movements. The event will take place in Heim G11 on Wednesday, Oct. 2, at 3:15 p.m., and is free and open to the public.

Lakey is a proponent of non-violent and progressive campaigns. His presence at Lycoming College is part of a series of talks throughout Pennsylvania on developing social and economic change through nonviolent means. The focus of his talk at Lycoming will involve guiding students on how to become involved in strong, progressive social movements. Lakey’s talk will address:

• The American political crisis and grassroots power. There are many ways other than violence to work for change, but only one technique generates more power than violence:  nonviolent direct action campaigning.
• Meeting the challenges of polarization in and around the academy. The expected growth of polarization influences our work but there are practical ways for institutions to grow through meeting this challenge.  
• What Americans get wrong about the Nordic economic model. Characteristic misunderstandings prevent a clear view of why the Nordic model out-performs free market capitalism in supporting democracy, shared prosperity, and even individual freedom. 

An activist for over 60 years, Lakey created and maintained the Global Nonviolent Action Database research project, which includes over 1100 campaigns from nearly 200 countries. As the co-founder and director for 15 years of Training for Change, he has led over 1500 social change workshops on five continents. In 2010, he was named “Peace Educator of the Year.” Each of his ten books has been about change and how to bring it about, including “Viking Economics” and “How We Win: A Guide to Nonviolent Direct Action Campaigning,” which is his most recent book.

Lakey recently retired from Swarthmore College, where he was the Eugene M. Lang Visiting Professor for Issues in Social Change. He has also held teaching posts at Haverford College and the University of Pennsylvania.