A political strategy adopted by M K Gandhi and his followers in India's Congress Party in 1930, in opposition to Britain's imperial rule, involving a non-violent, mass, illegal protest intended to discredit the authority of the state. The movement was banned, and many were arrested, including Gandhi; but a pact was reached in 1931, and Congress then participated in the second Round Table Conference on India's government. The strategy was later used by Martin Luther King Jr to good effect, and was a path sometimes advocated by opponents of nuclear weapons.
Civil disobedience has been used in nonviolent resistance movements in India (Gandhi's social welfare campaigns and campaigns to speed up independence from the British Empire), in South Africa in the fight against apartheid, and in the American Civil Rights Movement. The American author Henry David Thoreau pioneered the modern theory behind this practice in his 1849 essay Civil Disobedience (Wikisource Text), originally titled "Resistance to Civil Government". This essay has had a wide influence on many later practitioners of civil disobedience.Theories and techniques of civil disobedience
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.
For example, Mahatma Gandhi outlined the following rules:
A civil resister (or satyagrahi) will harbour no anger. 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. 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 of Civil Disobedience
Use in independence movements
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 said "Civil disobedience is the inherent right of a citizen to be civil, implies discipline, thought, care, attention and sacrifice". Gandhi learned of Civil Disobedience from Thoreau's classic essay, which caused Gandhi to adopt a non-violent approach.
Poland
Civil disobedience was a tactic used by the Polish in offense to the former communist government (See Solidarity).
South Africa
Both Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Steve Biko advocated civil disobedience.
Civil disobedience in the United States
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a leader of the civil rights movement in the United States in the 1960s also adopted civil disobedience techniques, and 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.
Civil disobedience and religion
Many who practice civil disobedience do so out of religious faith, and clergy often participate in or lead actions of civil disobedience. A notable example is Philip Berrigan, a 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.
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