civil disobedience
Peaceful protest lawbreaking
Civil disobedience is the deliberate, public refusal to obey laws or government demands as a form of protest.
The disobedience is nonviolent and accepts legal consequences—protesters may allow themselves to be arrested to dramatize their cause.
The term is associated with Gandhi's resistance to British rule and the American civil rights movement: She was arrested for civil disobedience after blocking the entrance to the courthouse.
19th-century American naturalist-essayist
- GandhiIndian independence leader
- satyagrahaNonviolent resistance philosophy
- KingMale hereditary ruler
- MandelaSouth African liberation figure
conscientious objection · pacifism · moral duty · higher law · conscience · principled · autonomy · integrity
Protest by remaining seated
- boycottOrganized economic protest
- marchRhythmic group walk
- demonstrationPublic display of opinion
- rallyGathering for a cause
picketing · occupation · vigil · blockade · strike · walkout · hunger strike · freedom ride
Right to cast ballots
- abolitionFormal discontinuation of practice
- anti-apartheidOpposing racial segregation policy
- independenceFreedom from external control
- antiwarOpposed to armed conflict
environmental · labor · desegregation · Montgomery bus boycott · Salt March · Selma · Tiananmen · Velvet Revolution
Failure to follow requirements
- dissentDisagreement with authority
- refusalAct of declining
- resistanceCapacity to withstand force
- insubordinationDefying workplace authority
nonconformity · rebellion · opposition · willful · arrest · prosecution · jail · fine
Fair treatment under law
- reformImprove by correcting faults
- equalitySame status for all
- freedomAbsence of constraint
- human rightsInalienable personal freedoms
democracy · change · awareness · liberation · emancipation · enfranchisement · desegregation · policy change
Thoreau
19th-century American naturalist-essayist
- GandhiIndian independence leader
- satyagrahaNonviolent resistance philosophy
- KingMale hereditary ruler
Mandela · conscientious objection · pacifism · moral duty · higher law · conscience · principled · autonomy · integrity · conviction
sit-in
Protest by remaining seated
- boycottOrganized economic protest
- marchRhythmic group walk
- demonstrationPublic display of opinion
rally · picketing · occupation · vigil · blockade · strike · walkout · hunger strike · freedom ride · draft resistance
suffrage
Right to cast ballots
- abolitionFormal discontinuation of practice
- anti-apartheidOpposing racial segregation policy
- independenceFreedom from external control
antiwar · environmental · labor · desegregation · Montgomery bus boycott · Salt March · Selma · Tiananmen · Velvet Revolution · Arab Spring
noncompliance
Failure to follow requirements
- dissentDisagreement with authority
- refusalAct of declining
- resistanceCapacity to withstand force
insubordination · nonconformity · rebellion · opposition · willful · arrest · prosecution · jail · fine · consequence
justice
Fair treatment under law
human rights · democracy · change · awareness · liberation · emancipation · enfranchisement · desegregation · policy change · repeal
- eco-activismdirect action, eco-sabotage, eco-warriors, ecodefense, ecoterrorism
- Black HistoryMartin Luther King Jr., MLK, Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass
- activismboycotts, activists, activist, advocate, demonstrating
- advocacypetition, advocating, protest sign, championing, picket sign
- defiancedefiance, insubordination, noncompliance, rebellion, disobey
- moral sayingsdo unto others, golden rule, do the right thing, honesty is the best policy, treat others fairly
civil disobedienceobedience
Compliance with authority
compliance · conformity · submission · acquiescence · subservience
civil disobediencearmed rebellion
Violent resistance to authority
guerrilla warfare · terrorism · armed struggle · political violence · rioting
civil disobediencelobbying
Advocating to decision-makers
voting · legal reform · petition · electoral politics · civic participation
civil, civic, civilian, civilized, civilization, uncivil, civility, disobedience, civics