Resistance Studies

Salome Pawlowski April 15th, 2010

In resistance studies, the term disobedience is frequently used to describe the refusal or failure to obey in civil society. There are different forms of disobedience in human society, for example civil disobedience and collective disobedience. I chose to closer examine the term civil disobedience and when and why it occurs.

Henry David Thoreau defies “civil disobedience” as “a group’s refusal to obey a law because they believe the law is immoral (as in protest against discrimination)”. It’s actually a part of his famous essay “Civil Disobedience (Resistance to Civil Government)” first published in 1849. This definition is one of the earliest and it is used by the Princeton University Wordnet dictionary. (http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=civil%20disobedience)

On Wikipedia.org states: “Civil disobedience is the active refusal to obey certain laws, demands and commands of a government, or of an occupying power, without resorting to physical violence. It is one of the primary tactics of nonviolent resistance.” It fails to state the reference. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_disobedience)

On the net you come across several definitions, for example: United Fork Workers Union, the farm worker movement in USA, states that civil disobedience is “The decision to break specific laws because they are unjust.” It’s also said on the page that “this tactic of nonviolence was used by the civil rights and farmworker movements to bring about social change.” (http://www.farmworkermovement.org/essays/glossary.shtml)

Bioscience-Bioethics Friendship Co-operative belonging to the Maquarie University in Sydney use the UNESCO/IUBS/EUBIOS Bioethics Dictionary definition that refers to civil disobedience as “An individual or community action which, although is in violation of the law, acts as an expression of personal or ideological values and a democratic plea for legal change. Examples include ‘Reclaim the Streets’ for pedestrians and the ‘Mardi Grass’ for advocates of pot decriminalization. (See Critical mass, Reclaim mass, Reclaim the streets, Mardi Grass, Activism, Nonviolent direct action) (MP)” (http://www.bioscience-bioethics.org/c.htm)

Fasttrackteaching.com writes: “the deliberate breaking of a law in order to draw public attention and debate to a cause or issue. Civil rights activists working with Rev. Martin Luther King often used this approach to challenge segregation. King defended such actions as justified, provided that those challenging the law do so “lovingly” and with a willingness to accept the penalty. Critics, however, said that using the tactic tended to weaken the basic principle that citizens have a duty to obey laws until they can be changed through legal processes.” (http://www.fasttrackteaching.com/termsmodern.html)

To summon it up we can say that civil disobedience is distinguished by a non-violent resistance to unfair laws, a sort of rebellion or protest to an unjust governmental rule. One do not have to physically fight governmental rule as many may suppose but can simply refuse or fail to support it. An unsupported government lacking the very thing that keeps it alive, legitimacy, will soon fall apart. Spokesmen of civil disobedience can be exemplified by persons like Mahatma Gandhi in British India, Nelson Mandela in South Africa, Martin Luther King in the USA and Lech Wa??sa in Poland.

References:

Literature:

Eriksson, Leif; Hettne, Björn (red.) 2001 ”Makt och internationella relationer” Lund, Studentlitteratur

Karlsson, Svante 4:e uppl. 2008 “Freds- och konflikthantering” Holmbergs Malmö AB, Studentlitteratur

Internet:

Princeton University, Wordnet Dictionary http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=civil%20disobedience

Wikipedia.org http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_disobedience

United Farm Worker Union http://www.farmworkermovement.org/essays/glossary.shtml

Maquarie University, UNESCO/IUBS/EUBIOS Bioethics Dictionary http://www.bioscience-bioethics.org/c.htm

Fasttrackteaching.com http://www.fasttrackteaching.com/termsmodern.html

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