There are social movements that call for civil disobedience.
Civil disobedience is an action that leads to breaking a rule as a protest or with the intention of promoting change at a political level . Generally it is a procedure based on non-violence that is carried out publicly and is susceptible to legal punishment.
The concept of disobedience refers to the act and consequence of disobeying: not doing what is ordered by an authority or what is established by law. Civil , meanwhile, is that linked to citizens (individuals with political and social rights) and to the civic (what is related to interest in community affairs and the proper functioning of institutions).
In this way, civil disobedience involves the expression of a rejection of a regulation or a policy . The development of this peaceful protest aims to produce a concrete effect on society.
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It is usually considered that civil disobedience as activism is inspired by the ideas of thinkers such as the Spanish Francisco Suárez ( 1548 – 1617 ) and the French Étienne de La Boétie ( 1530 – 1563 ). Suárez stated, for example, that an unjust law has no legal status or status. Étienne de La Boétie , for his part, proposed not cooperating as a mechanism of struggle.
In the 19th century , the North American Henry David Thoreau was a pioneer of civil disobedience when he opposed the payment of taxes as a protest against the US military intervention in Mexican territory. Thoreau maintained that paying taxes favored the financing of a war that was not just. For this fiscal disobedience or resistance to the tax, he was arrested and spent a night in prison.
Over time, civil disobedience became a political instrument elected by leaders such as the Hindu Mahatma Gandhi , the American Martin Luther King , and the South African Desmond Tutu .
Civil disobedience is associated with contempt and insubordination.
Characteristics of civil disobedience
Civil disobedience requires that the person be clear that their behavior constitutes a violation of a norm. There is an ethical disobedience that is exercised with political awareness and social conscience , as a form of passive resistance to something that is intended to be modified or annulled.
The subject, in this framework, knows that his act contradicts a norm but he does it with a specific purpose. The behavior is carried out in public because the aim is to draw the attention of those in power and achieve identification with other citizens who, in this way, can also join in to promote social change or legislative reform.
The desire for the act of civil disobedience to be observed by both the authorities and the rest of the population must be highlighted. This feature is the main resource to force the rulers to modify their position and to promote community reflection on the issue.
According to the specific characteristics of the action, civil disobedience can be classified as commissive (prohibited acts are carried out) or omissive (what is obligatory is not done).
Another distinction can be made between direct civil disobedience (violates the norm against which one intends to protest) and indirect civil disobedience (a rule is broken to draw attention to the cause of the disagreement).
Mahatma Gandhi and Rosa Parks are historical figures of civil disobedience.
The criticisms
It must be considered that civil disobedience receives criticism of different kinds. It is common to mention that, in a democracy where the powers function independently and legislation is respected, these protest measures do not make sense.
According to this vision, there are courts that have the power to annul regulations that eventually violate human rights. On the other hand, there are citizen participation mechanisms to intervene in public affairs, the basic tool being intervention in elections to elect representatives.
Continuing with this reasoning, violating the law through civil disobedience is not appropriate because the Judiciary contemplates the possibility of repealing or restricting laws and rulers can be "punished" or forced to act by voting for other leaders and parties. politicians.
However, defenders of civil disobedience warn that the times of judicial procedures and electoral mechanics are often slow. Therefore, an intervention that favors faster responses may be justified.
Examples of civil disobedience
Throughout history we find numerous examples of civil disobedience. One of the most memorable events was the refusal of African-American activist Rosa Parks to give up her seat on a bus to a white citizen.
The event took place in 1955 in the city of Montgomery ( Alabama ). At that time, blacks suffered marked legal discrimination; Among other injustices, in public transportation the front sector was assigned to whites and the rear to blacks. Drivers were also allowed to reduce the space for blacks if the area exclusively for whites was already occupied.
In this context, the driver of a bus where Parks was traveling urged this woman and three other people to get up to give up their seats to white passengers. Although three of the travelers did so, Parks did not want to get up and ended up being arrested and taken to trial. Faced with this situation, multiple protests by African Americans tired of discrimination began to develop. Parks was sentenced to pay a fine, which she also refused to pay. Then there was a boycott of Montgomery buses that lasted more than a year, until a court declared that segregation in transportation was unconstitutional.
Another example of civil disobedience was carried out by the boxer Muhammad Ali , who in 1966 refused to join the US army and fight in the Vietnam War . The athlete was arrested, his titles were taken away and his boxing license was suspended. Although he was sentenced to five years in prison, Ali remained free on bail.
The efforts of Nelson Mandela in South Africa to end apartheid and of Mahatma Gandhi to achieve Indian independence are also examples of civil disobedience.