Laughtivism represents the strategic deployment of humor and mockery by social nonviolent movements to undermine opponent authority, establish credibility, overcome fear and apathy, and effectively reach target audiences. This approach has been defined and primarily implemented independently by two prominent activist organizations: The Center for Applied Nonviolent Actions and Strategies (CANVAS), headquartered in Belgrade, Serbia, under Executive Director Srđa Popović's leadership, and the New York-based Yes Men team.
Notable recent manifestations of Laughtivism include The Yes Men establishing a fictitious movie production company that drew parallels between the Midwestern Tar Sands region and Mordor, as well as Egyptian comedian Bassem Youssef's satirical television program "The B+" which humorously addressed events during the Egyptian Revolution of 2011.
For additional manifestations of Laughtivism, readers may refer to "Why Dictators Don't Like Jokes," authored by Srdja Popović and Mladen Joksic. For a critical examination of Laughtivism, "Two Cheers for Laughtivism" by Kei Hiruta provides alternative perspectives.