Civil disobedience is the refusal to obey the governments demands in a nonviolent and collective means of forcing concessions from the government. Civil disobedience has been how people have been able to get their ideas across This belief originated from a long line of beliefs and ideas of peace. It is believed to have started around 470-399 B.C.E. One of the many political activist leaders who used this idea was Mahatma Gandhi. “Mahatma Gandhi (October 2, 1869 to January 30, 1948) was the leader of India’s non-violent independence movement against British rule and in South Africa who advocated for the civil rights of Indians.” (404 Error.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, www.biography.com/people/mahatma-gandhi-9305898]). Gandhi used…
The definition of Civil Disobedience by John Rawls, widely accepted by many, is defined as a public, non-violent, and conscientious breach of law undertaking with the aim of bringing about a change in laws or government policies. Ronald Dworkin has divided civil disobedience into three types: integrity-based, justice-based, and policy-based. Integrity-based civil disobedience disobeys a law he/she feels immoral. Justice-based civil disobedience disobeys laws in order get back some rights denied…
Elliot M. Zashin defines civil disobedience “as nonviolent, non-revolutionary… that breaks a law… done in public and done mainly to educate or persuade the majority” (Zashin, 1972, p. 110). This definition denotes that the place of civil disobedience on the map of political opposition is between revolution and peaceful protest. Revolutions aim to overturn the current regime or perhaps the entire political system. Political protest is often authorised by the existing authority and it attempts to…
Behind Civil Disobedience What do you believe “Civil Disobedience” means? Is it a criminal act or justified protests? Throughout the articles and poems, “Civil Disobedience” by Eric Cockrell, “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and “On Nonviolent Resistance” by Mohandas K. Gandhi, the authors seem to interpret the phrase very similarly. The term “Civil Disobedience” by its actual definition, means to not comply with certain laws and taxes as a way of protest. But, King,…
In Oscar Wilde argues that disobedience is man’s original virtue. Meaning that he believes disobedience is a good thing and through disobedience progress is made. History has proven that Wilde’s assertion holds true. Throughout history civil disobedience has been the catalyst for social progress, reform, and the questioning of the statuesque. Back in the colonial era of America this exact concept of disobedience. Was what sparked the idea of freedom and self-governance, instead of passive…
order to impact a free society, many had to undergo civil disobedience in order to impact the free society that we live in today. Peaceful resistance to laws positively impact a free society. Without civil disobedience, it would have been almost impossible to make change in our society. In 1846, Henry David Thoreau refused to pay taxes as a way to show his opposition to slavery. Thoreau was intentionally breaking the law without any violence. It was illegal not pay taxes. It is still illegal…
Many groups in America have been preaching tolerance and practicing civil disobedience for a number of years. Civil disobedience has been used to garner support and in some cases promote tolerance for a group’s beliefs, ideas or lifestyles. The ideas of tolerance and civil disobedience are not new and dates back to the colonial times in America. In colonial times, Hector St. Jean de Crevecoeur (n.d.) details how people of different backgrounds, beliefs, knowledge, standing and lifestyle lived…
Kenya, the Philippines and China with varying levels of success. One prominent use of the technique was in the Philippines where the Tagumpay Bayan civil disobedience campaign to dispute a rigged election employed to reduce government power was a general boycott of paying for and using government run businesses and even water supplies. In keeping with the theme of risk management, no participants were able to be targeted by their government because of the shear number of participants in the…
Each philosopher has their own opinion on civil disobedience and whether they agree with civil disobedience or not. Every philosopher states why the agree with it or why the don't. Agreeing with civil disobedience is ok when there are unjust laws that force people to break certain laws. However, if there are not unjust laws there should not be a reason why laws are being broke. Civil disobedience is also known as the refusal to obey certain laws or governmental demands for the purpose of…
Civil Disobedience What if I told you that disobeying laws led to the creation of The United States of America? Civil disobedience is the refusal to obey certain laws as a way of protesting, this usually involves the government. Civil disobedience can be seen as far back as a Sophocles play, Antigone. However, the term as well as the idea was popularized by Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau claims that disobedience is the true foundation of liberty and that the obedient must be slaves. Although…