Arguments Against Civil Disobedience

The thoroughly disputed concept of civil disobedience, and the manner in which it affects a free society, is one which has perpetually vexed oppressors, civilians, and revolutionaries alike throughout history. Although some perceive peaceful resistance as harmful to the democratic state as a whole, as well as a showing of both contempt for law and indulgence in self-interest, the rebellions which modern times are built upon contain ample evidence suggesting otherwise. The impact of nonviolent protest upon society is favorable when disobedients accept the just consequences of their actions and there is no other alternative to protest; these requirements furnish revolutionaries with tools which can be utilized to enact social change and combat

Oftentimes, those who scorn peaceful resistance believe that their movements are too reactionary in response to the causes they abhor. However, many revolutionaries without history have depleted all other political resources before resorting to nonviolent demonstration. As Cohen indicated within his Arguments Against Civil Disobedience, “lawful channels may exist on paper but not in fact”, a concept which embodies society’s necessity for protest (Cohen 163). Indeed, the idea that people oftentimes have no other route than boycotts and strikes is evident throughout history. Martin Luther King, Jr., who wrote “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” after being arrested for peacefully protesting segregation in Alabama in 1963, discussed how he and his fellow resistors were left no other choice than to rebel against the current social systems of the United States. In order to force their oppressors to gain perspective on civil rights, King and his comrades were driven to protest against “the city’s white power structure [which] left the Negro community with no alternative” (King par. 5). African Americans and those who supported them were often forced to nonviolently protest their mistreatment and lack of basic human rights, revealing the necessity for rebellion in the face of otherwise-unsurpassable