Civil disobedience

For other uses, see Civil disobedience (disambiguation).

Berlin Wall: East Germans refuse to obey the commands of the communist regime.

Rosa Parks in 1955. She became famous for refusing to obey set regulations. Her individual action of civil disobedience started the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which is one of the largest movements against racial segregation. In addition, this launched Martin Luther King, Jr., who was involved with the boycott, to prominence in the civil rights movement.

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. In its most nonviolent form (known as ahimsa or satyagraha) it could be said that it is compassion in the form of respectful disagreement.

Civil disobedience is one of the many ways people have rebelled against unfair laws. It has been used in many well-documented nonviolent resistance movements in India (Gandhi's campaigns for independence from the British Empire), in Czechoslovakia's Velvet Revolution to oust the communist dictatorship, in East Germany to oust the communist dictatorship, in South Africa in the fight against apartheid, in the American Civil Rights Movement, in the Singing Revolution to oust communist occupiers in the Baltic countries (part of the Soviet Union at the time), and recently in the 2005 Rose Revolution, and various movements worldwide. One of its earliest massive implementations was brought about by Egyptians against the British occupation in the nonviolent 1919 Revolution.

The American author Henry David Thoreau pioneered the modern theory behind this practice in his 1849 essay Civil Disobedience, originally titled "Resistance to Civil Government". The driving idea behind the essay was that of self-reliance, and also how one is in morally good standing as long as one can "get off another man's back"; so one does not necessarily have to physically fight the government, but one must not support it or have it support one (if one is against it). This essay has had a wide influence on many later practitioners of civil disobedience. In the essay, Thoreau explained his reasons for having refused to pay taxes as an act of protest against slavery and against the Mexican-American War.

Early uses of the term

Thoreau did not coin the term "civil disobedience." However, after his landmark 1848 lectures were published in 1866, the term "civil disobedience" began to appear in numerous sermons and lectures relating to slavery and the war in Mexico. Early examples of these include:

• The Gospel Applied to the Fugitive Slave Law [1850]: A Sermon, by Oliver Stearns (1851);
• "The Higher Law," in Its Application to the Fugitive Slave Bill:... by John Newell and John Chase Lord (1851);
• The Limits of Civil Disobedience: A Sermon..., by Nathaniel Hall (1851);
• The Duty and Limitations of Civil Disobedience: A Discourse, by Samuel Colcord Bartlett (1853).

Thus, by the time Thoreau's lectures were first published under the title "Civil Disobedience," in 1866, four years after his death, the term had achieved fairly widespread usage.

Theories and techniques

In seeking an active form of civil disobedience, one may choose to deliberately break certain laws, such as by forming a peaceful blockade or occupying a facility illegally. Protesters practice this non-violent form of civil disorder with the expectation that they will be arrested. Others also expect to be attacked or even beaten by the authorities. Protesters often undergo training in advance on how to react to arrest or to attack, so that they will do so in a manner that quietly or limply resists without threatening the authorities.

For example, Mahatma Gandhi outlined the following rules, in the time when he was leading India in the struggle for Independence from the British Empire:

1. A civil resister (or satyagrahi) will express no anger.
2. One will sometimes suffer the anger of the opponent.
3. In doing so, one will put up with assaults from the opponent, never retaliate; but one will not submit, out of fear of punishment or the like, to any order given in anger.
4. When any person in authority seeks to arrest a civil resister, he will voluntarily submit to the arrest, and he will not resist the attachment or removal of his own property, if any, when it is sought to be confiscated by authorities.
5. If a civil resister has any property in his possession as a trustee, he will refuse to surrender it, even though defending it he might lose his life. He will, however, never retaliate.
6. Retaliation includes swearing and cursing.
7. Therefore a civil resister will never insult his opponent, and therefore also not take part in many of the newly coined cries which are contrary to the spirit of ahimsa.
8. A civil resister may not salute the Union Flag, but he will not insult it or officials, English or Indian.
9. In the course of the struggle if anyone insults an official or commits an assault upon him, a civil resister will protect such official or officials from the insult or attack even at the risk of his life.

Examples

Estonia

File:Baltic Way.jpg

Baltic Way, reflecting the peak of the Singing Revolution against the socialist dictatorship.

Main article: Singing Revolution

The Singing Revolution lasted over four years, with various protests and acts of defiance. In 1991, as Soviet tanks attempted to stop the progress towards independence, the Estonian Supreme Soviet together with the Congress of Estonia proclaimed the restoration of the independent state of Estonia and repudiated Soviet legislation. People acted as human shields to protect radio and TV stations from the Soviet tanks. Through these actions Estonia regained its independence without any bloodshed.

Cuba

See also: Human rights in Cuba, Censorship in Cuba, and Cuban dissidents

Yo No Coopero Con La Dictadura dissidents refuse to obey the Cuban dictatorship.

The campaign, which crystallizes in the slogan “I do want change,” is articulated in six fundamental points: "I do not repudiate,” I do not assist” (the mass acts summoned by the regime), “I do not snitch” (I do not snitch on opposition members), “I do not follow” (form part of the Communist Party), “I do not cooperate,” and “I do not repress” (form part of the repressive apparatus).

Yo No Coopero Con La Dictadura () is a civil disobedience campaign against the totalitarianism in Cuba. Multiple artists, such as Lissette Álvarez, Amaury Gutierrez, Willy Chirino, Jon Secada, Paquito D'Rivera and Boncó Quiñongo, have declared their support for the struggle.

India

Civil disobedience has served as a major tactic of nationalist movements in former colonies in Africa and Asia prior to their gaining independence. Most notably Mahatma Gandhi developed civil disobedience as an anti-colonialist tool. Gandhi stated "Civil disobedience is the inherent right of a citizen to be civil, implies discipline, thought, care, attention and sacrifice". Though some biographers opine that Gandhi learned of civil disobedience from Thoreau's classic essay, which he incorporated into his non-violent Satyagraha philosophy, Gandhi in Hind Swaraj observes that "In India the nation at large has generally used passive resistance in all departments of life. We cease to cooperate with our rulers when they displease us." Gandhi's work in South Africa and in the Indian independence movement was the first successful application of civil disobedience on a large scale.

In a letter to P.K.Rao, dated September 10, 1935, Gandhi disputes that his idea of Civil Disobedience was derived from the writings of Thoreau:

"The statement that I had derived my idea of Civil Disobedience from the writings of Thoreau is wrong. The resistance to authority in South Africa was well advanced before I got the essay ... When I saw the title of Thoreau's great essay, I began to use his phrase to explain our struggle to the English readers. But I found that even "Civil Disobedience" failed to convey the full meaning of the struggle. I therefore adopted the phrase "Civil Resistance."
--Letter to P.K. Rao, Servants of India Society, September 10, 1935.

South Africa

This famous movement was started by Nelson Mandela. Mandela, along with Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Steve Biko advocated civil disobedience. The result can be seen in such notable events as the 1989 Purple Rain Protest, and the Cape Town Peace March which defied apartheid.

United States

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, and activists in the American civil rights movement of the 1960s, such as Rosa Parks, also adopted civil disobedience techniques. One of the biggest Civil Rights movements was the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which was started by Rosa Parks, and which made Martin Luther King Jr. become a famous Civil Rights activist. Antiwar activists both during and after the Vietnam War have done likewise. Since the 1970s, pro-life or anti-abortion groups have practiced civil disobedience against the U.S. government over the issue of legalized abortion. The broader American public has a long history of subverting unconstitutional governance, from the Whiskey Rebellion to the War on Drugs. However, the extent to which simple violation of sumptuary laws represents true civil disobedience aimed at legal and/or social reform varies widely.

Bangladesh

During his famous speech on 7th March, 1971, East Pakistan's Bengali nationalist leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his Awami League party announced the historic "non-cooperation" movement against the military and political establishment of West Pakistan in an effort to press the Pakistani government to accept the national election results of 1970 in which the Awami League won. The movement saw the complete shut down of all government and semi government offices, public transport, businesses, schools and colleges. East Pakistanis stopped paying taxes to the Pakistani state and all monetary transactions between East and West Pakistan came to a complete halt. All forms of communications in the form of telephone and telegraph were also suspended with West Pakistan. The Awami League leadership became the de facto government of East Pakistan for 18 days and this shook the very core of the Pakistani state. The movement came to an end with the launch of the bloody Operation Searchlight by the Pakistan Army on 26 March, 1971.

Thailand

Sondhi Limthongkul, leader of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), and other leaders of this alliance have claimed to be using civil disobedience. Despite their claim, their actions have not been following the principles of civil disobedience. Members of the alliance have been seen armed with clubs and other weapons such as guns, swords, and bombs. Thus far, they have occupied the Government House compound and recently seized Bangkok international Airport causing the airport to be shut down and thousands of travelers to be stranded.

Religious examples

Many who practice civil disobedience do so out of religious faith, and there has been evidence that clergy often participate in or lead actions of civil disobedience. A notable example is Philip Berrigan, a one-time Roman Catholic priest who was arrested dozens of times in acts of civil disobedience in antiwar protests. Also, groups like Soulforce, who favor non-discrimination and equal rights for gays and lesbians, have engaged in acts of civil disobedience to change church positions and public policy. "Operation Rescue" is a Christian political movement exercising civil disobedience to block access to abortion clinics.

Climate Change

On 2 November 2008, Nobel Peace Prize winner and environmental crusader Al Gore, speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York City, urged young people on Wednesday to engage in civil disobedience to stop the construction of coal plants: "If you're a young person looking at the future of this planet and looking at what is being done right now, and not done, I believe we have reached the stage where it is time for civil disobedience to prevent the construction of new coal plants that do not have carbon capture and sequestration."

Bibliography

• Civil Disobedience (Thoreau), a book written by Henry David Thoreau
• May 68, Philosophy is in the Street!, a book written by Vincent Cespedes

See also

• Committee of 100 (United Kingdom)
• Henry David Thoreau
• Mohandas Gandhi
  • Satyagraha
• Dr Martin Luther King, Jr
  • Letter from Birmingham Jail
• Rosa Parks, "mother of the civil rights movement"
• Dalai Lama
• Abalone Alliance and Clamshell Alliance, anti-nuclear power groups
• Robert Watke challenged grain monopolies of the early 20th century
• Christian anarchism
• Conscientious objection
• Direct action
• Draft resistance
• Holocaust rescuers
  • Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, French bread town
• Insubordination
• Hunt sabotage
• Nonconformism
• Nonviolence
• Nonviolent resistance
• Sousveillance, passive campaign against surveillance
• Tax resistance
• Tree sitting
• Trident Ploughshares, anti-nuclear weapons group
• Defiance Campaign, anti-apartheid campaign in South Africa.

External links

• Pensions for Peace ~ ACT for the Earth
• Civil Disobedience, by Peter Suber. From Philosophy of Law: An Encyclopedia, edited by Christopher Berry Gray, Garland Pub. Co., 1999, vol. I, pp. 110–113
• On Resistance to Civil Government by Henry David Thoreau
• Manifesto against conscription and the military system, with an updated list of all signatories from 1993 to 2005
• DirectAction.org offers online organizing resources for civil disobedience
• [2] a project of the Traprock Peace Center
• Nonviolent Resistance ~ Civil Rights Movement Veterans (U.S)

• Kimberley Brownlee. "Civil Disobedience". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.