Knowra Propaganda of the deed Propaganda of the deed A political strategy that uses dramatic actions, often violent ones, to communicate ideas and provoke wider political action. It treats the act itself as a message and example.
Direct action : Political action that directly confronts a target or condition rather than relying solely on representation or negotiation. It is the broader strategy of acting directly that this tactic turns into a public message.
Mikhail Bakunin : A Russian revolutionary anarchist and political thinker who advocated social revolution and collective revolt. His revolutionary milieu helped shape arguments for action as a public demonstration of rebellion.
Errico Malatesta : An Italian anarchist activist and theorist who participated in revolutionary movements across Europe and the Americas. He argued that insurrectionary action could help initiate social revolution, while stressing the need for popular participation.
Haymarket affair : An 1886 labor protest in Chicago followed by a bomb explosion, deaths, and the trial of eight anarchists. The affair intensified public association between anarchism, political violence, and labor agitation.
Nonviolent resistance : Collective political action that uses noncooperation or peaceful intervention rather than physical violence. It also seeks to communicate through action, but rejects violence as its means.
Political violence : The use or threat of force to pursue political goals or shape political power. Violence has often served as the tactic’s most conspicuous medium, though it is not its only form.
Carlo Pisacane : An Italian nationalist and socialist whose 1857 expedition aimed to spark revolt against Bourbon rule. His failed expedition embodied the idea that an insurrectionary act could awaken popular resistance.
Peter Kropotkin : A Russian geographer and anarchist theorist who developed ideas of mutual aid and decentralized cooperation. He initially defended exemplary revolutionary acts but later warned that terrorism alienated workers.
Assassination of Alexander II : The 1881 killing of Russian emperor Alexander II by members of the revolutionary group Narodnaya Volya. The assassins sought to provoke political change, but the killing brought intensified repression.
Terrorism : The use or threat of violence, especially against civilians, to pursue political aims by intimidating a wider audience. The terms overlap historically, but terrorism emphasizes coercion and fear rather than action as exemplary communication.
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