Civil disobedience

217 Pages·2018·2.17 MB·English

by  Scheuerman

Civil Disobedience
Key Concepts Series
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Civil Disobedience
William E. Scheuerman
polity
Copyright © William E. Scheuerman 2018
The right of William E. Scheuerman to be identified as Author of this
Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988.
First published in 2018 by Polity Press
Polity Press
65 Bridge Street
Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK
Polity Press
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Suite 300,
Medford, MA 02155, USA
All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the
purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by
any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,
without the prior permission of the publisher.
ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-1862-3
ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-1863-0(pb)
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Scheuerman, William E., 1965- author.
Title: Civil disobedience / William E. Scheuerman.
Description: Malden, MA : Polity Press, 2018. | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017021115 (print) | LCCN 2017023718 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781509518654 (Mobi) | ISBN 9781509518661 (Epub) |
ISBN 9781509518623 (hardback) | ISBN 9781509518630 (pbk.)
Subjects: LCSH: Civil disobedience–Juvenile literature.
Classification: LCC JC328.3 (ebook) | LCC JC328.3 .S254 2018 (print) |
DDC 303.6/1–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017021115
Typeset in 10.5 on 12 pt Sabon by Toppan Best-set Premedia Limited
Printed and bound in the UK by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon
The publisher has used its best endeavours to ensure that the URLs for
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time of going to press. However, the publisher has no responsibility for
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For my parents

Contents
Acknowledgments viii
Introduction 1
1 Divine Witness 11
2 Liberalism and its Limits 32
3 Deepening Democracy 55
4 Anarchist Uprising 81
5 Postnationalization and Privatization 101
6 Digitalization 122
7 Tilting at Windmills? 140
Conclusion 155
Notes 160
References 176
Index 193
Acknowledgments
The initial inspiration for writing this volume came from
Edward Snowden, whose 2013 whistleblowing jolted me out
of my scholastic slumbers and forced me to think hard about
politically motivated lawbreaking and how to make sense of
it. Donald Trump’s ascendancy later provided a frightening
reminder of why it remains vital that we understand civil
disobedience.
Robin Celikates and Maeve Cooke accompanied the
journey, generously supporting my efforts and commenting
on components of the manuscript, as have two colleagues,
Russell Hanson and Jeffrey Isaac. I have learned a great deal
from all of them.
I presented earlier versions of the ideas developed here
at my home institution, Indiana University, and Amsterdam
University, Copenhagen Business School, Forschungskol­
leg Humanwissenschaften (Bad Homburg), Goethe Univer-
sity (Frankfurt), Hamburg University, Humboldt University
(Berlin), Notre Dame University (Indiana), Seoul National
University, University College Dublin, University of Memphis,
University of Pennsylvania, University of Toronto, and
the University of York (UK). As always, the annual Prague
critical theory conference on philosophy and social sciences,
for which I have been fortunate to serve as co-director, pro-
vided ample opportunities to garner critical feedback. Lively
audiences there and elsewhere forced me to think more clearly