They didn’t camp illegally in parks or on university campuses, as many protesters within the United States have recently done. But as early as 1773, Boston Tea Party supporters broke the law once they protested against British colonial taxes by throwing tea into Boston Harbor.
As protests against the humanitarian crisis in Gaza spread, criticism poured in from various quarters. Many of those critics spoke of a right to protest and freedom of expression, but denounce every breach of the law. Some claim: “External agitators” and this as justification for the usage of Police to interrupt up the demonstrationsincluding student protests on university campuses.
It is simple to confuse the sometimes different concepts of peaceful protests and law-abiding protests. In most cases, groups of protesters will be assumed to abide by the law. But sometimes this reduces the effectiveness of the protests.
In situations where there may be so much at stake, it could be morally permissible to peacefully break certain laws to be able to draw attention to larger injustices. civil disobedienceAnd it is an element of a long-standing American tradition goes back a minimum of to the Boston Tea Party. This includes the abolitionist And Right to vote Movements of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that Civil rights And Antiwar Movements of the Nineteen Sixties and Nineteen Seventies and a variety of more moderen social justice movements on this century, including OccupyThe Resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline And Black lives matter.
As an ethical and political philosopher, I imagine it can be crucial for residents to know the role that civil disobedience can play in curbing abuse of power and promoting democracy.
Non-violence is the important thing
Civil disobedience means accepting the rule of law typically while breaking a particular law. As philosopher Peter Singer writes in his book:Practical Ethics“Those who engage in civil disobedience demonstrate the sincerity of their protest and their respect for the rule of law and fundamental democratic principles by not resisting the power of the law, remaining non-violent and accepting the legal penalties for their actions.”
To be clear, when protesters engage in civil disobedience, they usually are not breaking laws that prohibit violence. The laws they’re breaking are either discriminatory in nature or prohibit relatively minor actions designed to hinder organized resistance. For example, persons are breaking local laws that prohibit encampments or other gatherings on public property.
The crucial thing is that civil disobedience isn’t carried out with the usage of weapons. The demonstrators do indirectly endanger the lives or safety of other people. But there are various Examples of individuals engaging in civil disobedience who meet on Government violence The endangers the lives and safety of the demonstrators.
For example, the police Civil rights demonstrators Crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge in 1965, and National Guard troops shot students protesting the Vietnam War Kent State University in 1970The police also attacked Indians and others who protested against the development of the Dakota Access Oil Pipeline and last The police beat and used pepper spray College students protest against Israeli violence within the Gaza Strip.
Wally Gobetz via Flickr, CC BY-ND
Ancient origins
The first example of civil disobedience within the Western philosophical tradition dates back to the trial and execution of Socratesan ancient Greek moral philosopher. As described within the writings of Plato, Socrates was tried and officially found guilty of impiety and seduction of the youth. This was probably due partially to his criticism of Athenian democracy as expressed in Plato's writings.
When given the chance Socrates asked for exile and accepted execution quite than comply with stop his public philosophizing activities in Athens. His decision has inspired countless other principled resistance movements since then.
Modern assumption
A key figure within the American tradition of civil disobedience is the naturalist and philosopher Henry David Thoreau. In his 1849 essay on civil disobedience, which was originally titled:Resistance to the civilian government“, Thoreau advocates the principle that an individual's moral conscience is compromised by submission to unjust institutions.
He argues that individuals usually are not at all times obligated to subordinate their moral beliefs to the law. Thoreau wrote his essay after being imprisoned for refusing to pay taxes. He believed that these taxes supported slavery and the Mexican-American War. His arrest got here shortly after the United States began that war, a conflict that Thoreau described as unjustified land grabbing This would serve to strengthen the slave-holding states.
Thoreau spent only an evening in prison before a relative paid the taxes he owed, much to Thoreau's annoyance. Yet his essay influenced thinkers and reformers all over the world, including Leo Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi, opponents of fascism in World War II, and Martin Luther King Jr.
Charles Moore, Montgomery Advertiser via Wikimedia Commons
In his 1963 book “Letter from Birmingham Prison”, King, himself perceived as an “outsider agitator” by critics of the anti-segregation movement in Birmingham, drafted what could possibly be considered a manual for civil disobedience. At the time he wrote it, he was in prison for “parading without a permit.”
King first advocates negotiations. If these fail, he says, it’s needed to arrange for the implications of civil disobedience. This includes serious preparation for violent responses to non-violent protests, for instance from the police or the National Guard. Finally, King argues for planning direct motion for a time when the best tension would arise. King writes:
“There is a kind of constructive, non-violent tension what is necessary for growth. Just as Socrates believed that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that people could rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths… The purpose of our direct action program is to create a situation so crisis-like that it inevitably opens the door to negotiation.”
Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images
It works out
The approach that Socrates took, was adopted by the Boston Tea Partiers, Thoreau explained and King explained, has worked in recent weeks at a variety of universities within the USA and all over the worldSome university administrations have agreed to talk to protesters and to Initiate efforts to fulfill their demands.
Unfortunately, these examples of constructive protest and negotiation received much less media attention than the cases during which university administrations decided to suspend students and Call the police to disperse the protesters.
But those that resort to violence within the face of civil disobedience would do well to reflect on Thoreau’s critiques – including his criticism that almost all authorities prefer to let a crisis escalate:
“It is the fault of the government itself that the cure is worse than the evil. … Why does (the government) always crucify Christ, excommunicate Copernicus and Luther, and declare Washington and Franklin rebels?”
Thoreau suggested that authorities should take a special approach: “anticipate and prepare for reforms…value the wise minority…encourage their citizens to be alert, to point out their errors, and to improve.”
They could probably find a duplicate of Thoreau's essay, in addition to Plato's dialogues and King's letter, of their university libraries and maybe in a number of the protesting student tents.
image credit : theconversation.com