Lecture 1: What is most powerful structure or agency? Explain giving examples in relation to civil disobedience. When you look at society there is agency and structure. The agency is the individual 's ability to make their own choices in society, a micro perspective. These choices that society makes are not guided by anything else than their own decisions. Therefore it is the free will of the people. On the other hand you have structure, a macro perspective, where forces from the outside is affecting the individual. They can affect the choices of individuals.
Peaceful resistance is necessary for social change. The founders of the United States believed in this idea when writing the Declaration of Independence. John Locke, an enlightenment thinker who our founding fathers took ideas from, came up with the idea of the social contract. This is the agreement that a government and its people have and when citizens feel their government is wronging them then they have the right to revolt. Civil disobedience is a form of expressing the social contract and the consent of the governed.
In Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau, Thoreau attempts to persuade citizens to deliberately disobey and isolate themselves from the government. Thoreau creates a metaphor where injustice impacts a government machine. First, he writes that citizens can let the government or machine try to fix itself or try to find the injustice within itself, “…but if it is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then I say break the law. Let your life be a counter friction to stop the machine” (Thoreau, 1847, p. 134). Thoreau identifies that ultimately if citizens want change from injustice, citizens must disobey.
He also talks about the different kind of governments. He talks about societies without a government under force. The difference between a society government with people’s opinion, and a society with a force government is that the government that listens to individual’s thoughts actually takes them in consideration. While a force government does not really care about what society thinks. If they chose to do something they will do it with hesitation.
I consider civil disobedience to be an easily-ignored pillar upon which our democracy was founded. In fact we are only established as a nation now because our founding fathers engaged in civil disobedience themselves. We were in a “social contract” of sorts with Great Britain and when we felt that they had not upheld their part of the contract (they did not allow us to create courts to maintain order, or to create a navy to defend ourselves, or to sustain our economy due to an inability to trade with any other countries), Thomas Jefferson concluded that it was our not only our right, but also our duty to break away. And it was Thomas Jefferson that combined all of the works of the great thinkers before him such as Thomas Hobbes, John Locke
Civil Disobedience Peaceful resistance to laws positively impacts a free society. Without peaceful resistance, such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s peaceful protests on Civil Right’s, African American citizens would not have the right’s that they unquestionably deserve. Also, many others would not have the ability to accomplish the things that they can today. Aggressive and pernicious disobedience only leads to downfalls and violence in our society, but placid and peaceful disobedience, make America the free country that it is today.
Like Martin Luther King Jr once said “One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” With these words in mind, I affirm the resolution resolved: Civil disobedience in a democracy is morally justified. I offer the following definitions to help clarify the round: Civil disobedience is nonviolent refusal to follow the laws or demands of government to prove a point and the person participating in civil disobedience has to accept the consequences. A democracy is a government by the people, where the people elect representatives or the leader. Not everyone has to vote in a democracy but, the leaders or representatives have to be decided by the majority of eligible voters.
And, indeed, at all times there were people who tried to peaceful, non-violent way to resist state violence. American philosopher Ronald Dworkin identified three types of civil disobedience - «Integrity-based» («Based on honesty") - in which people refuse to obey the laws that they considered immoral (because, for example, Tolstoy protested against the death penalty and military service) « Justice -based» («Based on justice" - in which people are fighting against the law, which in their view does not correspond to justice, constitution, etc. (for example, civil society activists in the United States in 50-60s fought against the laws of Southern states, do not conform to federal decisions), and finally, «Policy-based» («Based on the policy"),
Some people might think of destruction or immorality when the words “civil disobedience” come up, but in reality, it’s quite the opposite. Many times in the past, civil disobedience has lead to social reform and building up a better future. It’s a form of resistance that commonly centers on a person’s morals as it’s basis. It’s a powerful tool in protests that has been used many times in the past and continues to be utilized today. Civil disobedience and breaking the law to some extent go hand in hand, which brings up the question, is it justifiable?
Civil Disobedience is an important moral responsibility of a citizen, however it should not get to the level of illegal activity under any circumstances, because great reform can be brought peacefully not violently. In the title named "On Civil Disobedience" by Mohandas K. Ghandi once said: “No country has ever become or will ever become, happy though victory in war”(Mohandas K. Gandhi , 148). Even that long ago, when war was at high, and people embraced it, he knew that the only thing war brought was death, and depression among civilians. This method of civil disobedience has only resulted into more wars, and no real solutions. The most efficient way to the be civilly disobedient is to be peaceful, but willing to stand up for your cause.
Throughout the history of society, civil disobedience has become a key tool in combating laws seen as unjust. It was used thoroughly in the civil rights movement and was integral to the advancement of equality. The reason that civil disobedience plays such an important role in the advancement of rights is because of how effective it has been. The best way to make people aware of and relate to a movement is to make it well known. Events such as Bloody Sunday and the Montgomery Bus Boycott helped the civil rights movement gain much of the momentum that guaranteed its success.
The philosophers such as Locke and Rousseau, believed that the governors of society should be responsive and secure rights for the people. With this intention in mind, an individual wouldn’t change society because it is supposed to be built around the individuals. Thus, individuals can not change their society because they don’t have power in numbers, they will be condemned by society if they try, and they shouldn’t need to change society if it is built to represent. An individual can not change society because
Civil disobedience and it's impact on society varies greatly. Those of you can recall the peaceful protests of Martin Luther King. A man who led African Americans to integration and brought each race together. How did he do this you may ask?
People's justification to engage in civil disobedience rests on the unresponsiveness that their engagement to oppose an unjust law receives. People who yearn for a change in a policy might sometimes find themselves in a dead end because their “attempts to have the laws repealed have been ignored and legal protests and demonstrations have had no success” (Rawls 373). What Rawls says is that civil disobedience is a last option to oppose an unjust law; therefore, providing civil disobedients with a justification for their cause. Civil disobedience is the spark of light that people encountered at the dead end and they hope that this spark of light will illuminate to show that an unjust law should not exist at all. Martin Luther King, Jr, in his “Letter from
Civil Disobedience Thousands of dedicated people march the streets of a huge city, chanting repetitively about needing a change. They proudly hold vibrant signs and banners as they fight for what they believe in. Expressions of determination and hope are visibly spread across their faces. These people aren’t using weapons or violence to fight for their ideas; simply, they are using civil disobedience.
“You must be the change you wish to see in the world” These astonishing words that Mahatma Gandhi said made me suppose that Civil Disobedience is a Moral Responsibility of a citizen because when breaking certain laws, a citizen perhaps incorporate a good intention or a bad intention for breaking it. Citizens break the law occasionally to have their beliefs be heard so change can be assemble. Some ways that Civil Disobedience can be a Moral Responsibility would be breaking the law for the right intentions. An example of breaking the law for the right intentions could be The Salt March that Gandhi Created or, Rosa Parks standing up for her beliefs about her actions, MLK wanting equal rights with caucasian. Illegal Immigrants coming into the