Read our case studies on activism struggles from around the world. They provide opportunities to explore the strategies used by leaders fighting for civil and political liberties.

Activist Movements in Non-Free Countries

Aung San Suu Kyi Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi has devoted her life to the cause of a free, democratic Burma. Since 1990, the ruling military junta has repeatedly placed her under house arrest.

Women in White Since the Cuban government arrested dozens of opposition journalists and activists in 2003, family members of the arrested have been holding peaceful protests demanding their release on a weekly basis.

Activist Movements in Partly Free Countries

Gandhi In the 1930s and '40s, Gandhi led a nonviolent movement that began as a struggle for Indians' civil rights and ultimately grew to call for Indian independence, which was achieved in 1947.

Martin Luther King, Jr. In the 1950s and '60s, the American civil rights movement struggled for racial equality, winning victories across the South and eventually achieving the passage of new civil rights legislation.

Wangari Maathai Since 1977, the Green Belt Movement has empowered women in Kenya to join the environmental movement and educate themselves.

Activist Movements in Free Countries

Jody Williams The International Campaign to Ban Landmines, founded in 1992, created a global network that resulted in the signing of the Mine Ban Treaty by 122 countries in the span of just five years.