Civil Disobedience: Protest, Justification and the Law

Civil Disobedience: Protest, Justification and the Law
ISBN-10
1441126767
ISBN-13
9781441126764
Series
Civil Disobedience
Category
Political Science
Pages
176
Language
English
Published
2013-03-28
Publisher
Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Author
Tony Milligan

Description

Civil disobedience is a form of protest with a special standing with regards to the law that sets it apart from political violence. Such principled law-breaking has been witnessed in recent years over climate change, economic strife, and the treatment of animals. Civil disobedience is examined here in the context of contemporary political activism, in the light of classic accounts by Thoreau, Tolstoy, and Gandhi to call for a broader attitude towards what civil disobedience involves. The question of violence is discussed, arguing that civil disobedience need only be aspirationally non-violent and that although some protests do not clearly constitute law-breaking they may render people liable to arrest. For example, while there may not be violence against persons, there may be property damage, as seen in raids upon animal laboratories. Such forms of militancy raise ethical and legal questions. Arguing for a less restrictive theory of civil disobedience, the book will be a valuable resource for anyone studying social movements and issues of political philosophy, social justice, and global ethics.

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