Civil Disobedience

Author: Heinz Kleger

In: Klein, A und O. Zimmerman, (eds.) Impulse der Reformation: Buergergesellschaft und Demokratie, pp. 51-58

Since the protests against the use of nuclear energy in the 1980s, civil disobedience is part of German society. The author claims that this kind of resistance shouldn't be confused with the right to resist. Civil disobedience has certain stringent criteria that have to be fulfilled, and should moreover be an exception in a democracy founded on the rule of law and the principle of representation.

Author: Max-Emanuel Geis

In: Hilgendorf, E. und J. Juergen, Handbuch Rechtsphilosophie, pp. 480-484

The terms civil disobedience, resistance and the right or duty to resist are well known elements of political rhetoric.  The use of these terms often combines various dimensions of interpretation, such as religious, moral and ethical ideas, or philosophical and political approaches too. This book therefore seeks to analyze the term 'civil disobedience' from the perspective of the philosophy of law.

Author: Heinz Kleger

In: Enzemann , Birgit, ed., Handbuch Politische Gewalt., pp. 163-203

The author stresses that a democratic state based on the rule of law provides a rigorous normative order, which guarantees basic civil and human rights for each citizen, whilst also allowing for democratic government. Therefore, resistance and civil disobedience are always caught in a conflict between social (and political) rules and individual rights.

Author: Karl Graf Ballestrem

In: Enzmann, Birget, (ed.) Handbuch Politische Gewalt, pp. 67-74

The subject of this article is the right to resistance, and in particular whether this right can exist within a liberal and democratic order, which emphasizes protection of civil rights, freedom of speech and the right to public criticism and the right to form an opposition.

Author: Karl Kroepil

In: Recht und Politik, Vol 49, No 4, 2013, pp. 193-198

The author distinguishes between 'civil disobedience' and 'whistle blowing', discusses possible classification of the terms and clarifies their meaning with reference to historical context.

Author: Wolfgang Heuer

In: INDES- Zeitschrift fuer Politik und Gesellschaft, No 4, 2017, pp. 66-76

Hannah  Arendt presented her ideas about civil disobedience at a symposium of the New York Bar Association in 1970, and posed as the central question whether the law was dead.  This article explains Arendt's 'republican' philosophy and distinguishes it from the liberal approaches of  Rawls and Habermas, and from democrats like Etienne Balibar, before discussing in some detail Arendt's work On Revolution.  

Author: Theodor Ebert

In: Forschungsjournal Soziale Bewegung, Vol 25, No 1, 2012, pp. 60-65

Social movements come into being due to contradictions within a society.  They create a growing  number of people that fear a social catastrophe or believe they can change the current situation.  These motives also provide legitimation for people to protest, resist or, in some circumstances, even promote a radical change in their society.

Editor(s): Friedrich Burschel, Andreas Kahrs, Lea Steinert

edition assemblage, Munster, 2014, pp. 144

There have been frequent examples of civil disobedience in Germany in recent years.  Protests in cities and regions such as Heiligendamm, Dresden, Stuttgart, Wendland and Frankfurt represent a kind of renaissance of civil resistance. This book examines the sources of legitimation and points of dispute, and also notes different definitions of civil disobedience and how these are discussed in the literature. Therefore this book draws on the ideas and experience of various authors.