UN Human Rights Day takes place every year on December 10. It is an important day to take a pulse of current society and learn more about what human rights issues are still prevalent, and how they are being addressed. It's also your chance to get more engaged and use effective tools such as civil disobedience to protest social injustices and human rights violations peacefully.
Civil disobedience is peacefully refusing to obey a law or policy that the protester believes is unjust. It aims to bring about positive change.
Civil disobedience has had a lasting role in fighting human rights violations throughout history and remains relevant today. In this blog, you’ll learn how to use the power of civil disobedience movements to protest human rights violations and realize positive change. Table of Contents:
The Three Principles of Civil Disobedience
The three principles of civil disobedience, taken from A Theory of Justice by John Rawls, clarify its definition:
Nonviolence: Executing civil disobedience peacefully demonstrates the moral high ground and reduces harm.
Public action: Practising civil disobedience in public challenges the status quo and garners public support.
Justice: Applying justice ensures that actions are rooted in addressing unfair systems.
Civil Disobedience and Legality
Civil disobedience has a strong focus on legality. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Archive says that people who practise civil disobedience are ready to accept the legal consequences of their actions. This shows that they respect the law. But despite this, critics of Rawls’ theory say that not all acts of civil disobedience are morally justifiable.
While critics may argue over the legality and morality of civil disobedience, it's clear that it should be peaceful—and is more effective this way. Political scientist Erica Chenoweth found that nonviolent civil disobedience is more likely to effect change, partly because those in elite, and therefore influential, positions are more likely to join in.
Modern Examples of Civil Disobedience
Examples of civil disobedience today include:
Environmental protests: Extinction Rebellion (XR) highlights the climate crisis through actions, including blocking roads and climbing iconic buildings, such as the Eiffel Tower.
Indigenous land rights protests: Canada’s Indigenous Wet’suwet’en community has demonstrated against fossil fuel development on their land by creating rail blockades around the country to raise awareness of the issue.
Protests against authoritarian laws: The Woman, Life, Freedom movement in Iran was formed in 2022 following the death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who was arrested for not wearing the hijab correctly. The movement speaks out against the repression of women and minorities and police brutality.
The Intersection of Civil Disobedience and Human Rights
Civil disobedience and human rights are intrinsically linked. To understand their connection, consider these civil disobedience and human rights examples, each mentioned in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR):
Freedom of expression: Highlighted under Article 19 of the UDHR, this right crystallizes the essence of civil disobedience—the very right to express an opinion peacefully and in public for long-term change.
The right to land: Civil disobedience can also highlight infractions of community land as we’ve already seen in the Wet’suwet’en protests. Another example is the demonstrations in Brazil in 2021, when Indigenous leaders protested against proposals that land claims by Indigenous people could be rejected if their territory was seized pre-1988.
Gender equality: Women in Myanmar continue to protest against the military dictatorship in a bid to disrupt the patriarchy and promote gender equality. As well as peaceful demonstrations, activists are delivering relief in areas of conflict or serving in the military themselves to redress gender inequality.
Is Civil Disobedience Working?
You may be wondering whether civil disobedience is working. These cases show that it is an effective way to raise awareness of human rights issues and bring about change:
Pro-Gaza boycott campaigns: A number of major companies have been the subject of boycotts protesting against their alleged support of Israel in the genocide in Gaza. Household names including PepsiCo, The Coca-Cola Company, Procter & Gamble, Starbucks and McDonald’s have all seen their net profits take a significant reduction as a result.
Vape-quitting trend in support of Congo: A trend has emerged on TikTok where young people have quit vaping to protest against the effects of cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The mines supply cobalt for batteries used in e-cigarettes. A report by Amnesty International found that mining companies had forcibly evicted communities in these areas and that violence had been used on those who remained.
While in many cases civil disobedience is an effective tool for change, it does face obstacles — for example, in the case of the George Floyd protests. The government ordered curfews and deployed thousands of military personnel on city streets, creating fear and anxiety. Despite these hurdles, civil disobedience continues to prove a useful and effective tool in the fight for social justice.
The Impact of Peaceful Resistance and Human Rights Advocacy
We’ve seen in the selection of examples used for this article that civil disobedience has a significant role to play in highlighting human rights violations and effecting change.
Take time this week to explore how you can contribute to increasing your own and others' awareness of persistent human rights issues. Make it your mission to engage actively or support causes that are dear to you and your community, but also learn more about what is happening outside of your immediate neighbourhood. You will be surprised that many human rights issues that seem like they don't affect you directly are still negatively affecting people close to you indirectly.
Civil disobedience is one of the more effective tools available to us to stand up for ourselves and others being exploited, discriminated against or harmed physically. Be inspired by the examples above to hold our leaders accountable and help build a better, saner and safer world through nonviolent protests, marches, and campaigning. Contact us at Tough Convos to find ways your team can build bridges to your community through social justice campaigns.
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