Rebellion and Civil Disobedience In Albert Camus’ book chapter “The Rebel,” from the book The Rebel, Camus provides a clear definition of what characterizes a rebel. In their article “Teaching About Civil Disobedience” educational professors J. Clark, Thomas Vontz, and Kristoffer Barikmo differentiate between what is, and what is not civil disobedience. The theories and definitions raised in these texts can be used to explain the actions of the youths in the Jonathon Kaplan directed teen rebellion cult film Over the Edge, as well as the actions of the Muslim Brotherhood movement in Egypt and Mohandas Gandhi campaigns in India. By applying the ideas from the texts, rebellion is exhibited by the teenagers in Kaplan’s film; however, civil …show more content…
As Camus explains, “… the movement of rebellion is founded simultaneously on the categorical rejection of an intrusion that is considered intolerable and on the confused conviction of an absolute right …”(Camus 13). The youths in Over the Edge feel oppressed by the local sheriff who constantly harasses them in their daily activities. When the adults decide to close the recreation center, the only place the youths can express themselves, the local sheriff Doberman goes to accomplish the deed. The recreation center counselor, Julia protests that he can’t come inside without a warrant, but , Doberman bullies his way in any way. He arrests, one kid over drugs and tells the rest, “ I could search any of you if I wanted to.”(Over the Edge 1:31:51). Doberman’s power abuse outrages the kids who in response start to protest outside the recreational center. In addition, as the adult’s focus on the prosperity of the community and not the lives of their children further infuriates the youths in New Granada. As their acts of rebellion increases the chaotic violence that came with it escalates too. The violent nature of the scene at the ends of the movie falls short to be qualified as civil disobedience. According to Clark et al, ““… civil disobedience is an overt act of nonviolent defiance that is designed to promulgate the injustice of …show more content…
The Egyptian January 2011 revolution initially created hopes that a genuine process of Egyptian democratization would take off under the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood, a religious, political and social movement. The June 2012 presidential elections, brought the group’s candidate, Mohamed Morsi, in office. While in power the Muslim Brotherhood kept and enforced many laws and articles from the old regime to maintain control of the country. The continuation of torture and murder behind bars under the Muslim Brotherhood disqualifies it as a rebellion as Camus clarifies, “to exist, man must rebel, but rebellion must respect the limit it discovers in itself”( Camus 22). On June 26, 2013, El Nadim Center for Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence, published a report in which it described torture during the first year of Brotherhood rule as “widespread and systematic.” “ The report documented 359 cases of torture and 217 cases of torture-related deaths over the period from June 30, 2012, to May 31, 2013” (Selim 193). The transgression in Muslim Brotherhood regime through the use of violence to punish it opponents oversteps the boundaries of a rebel. The main complaint of the Egyptians citizens was that the Muslim Brotherhood failed to live to its promise to get rid of authoritarianism and put Egypt on a path toward democracy. Under
Civil disobedience spawns a major and widely debated issue by many who established by well-known intelligent scholars and many examples of civil disobedience become displayed. The acts of civil disobedience can be noted in major works such as Sophocles?s Antigone, King?s ?Letter from Birmingham Jail?, or even from Plato?s ?from Crito?. A specific claim exemplified throughout these works make that civil disobedience races in gaining popularity and should remain allowed, and continued to be seen as a solution to reform poorly established laws. A claim represented is, civil disobedience is right. Rhetorically, appeals such as credibility, logic and emotion can provide support for these claims.
Society’s norms change generation by generation. Every once and a while, someone will break the rules of society. Sifting through history, there are outcasts and rebels that went against what society thought was the right thing to do. Jesus Christ is among the most famous rebels in society. His rebellion against the religious establishment at Jerusalem created a large following of Christians after his resurrection that threatened Judaism. Christianity spread throughout all countries of the world. Jesus Christ was not the only non-conformist in history. On October 2, 1869 another great rebel was born. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, more commonly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was raised in Porbandar, India. Gandhi studied law in London, England but traveled to South Africa in 1893. Here, he spent twenty years opposing discriminatory legislation against Indians. Returning to India in 1914, Gandhi remained to follow his civil disobedience campaign. Even after his death, Gandhi’s commitment to nonviolence is living. The next famous rebel in history, became one of the world’s most influential men to ever live. Martin Luther King Jr. was an African American non-conformist during the civil rights era. King led one of the most suc...
“No radical change on the plane of history is possible without crime,” This quote from Hermann Keyserling is just one of many statements that help describe the meaning and true raw power of Civil Disobedience. Civil disobedience as defined by Merriam Webster is the “refusal to obey governmental demands or commands especially as a nonviolent and usually collective means of forcing concessions from the government”. The most promising and understandable of the definitions of Civil Disobedience would be that given to us by Gandhi from India “Compassion in the form of respectful disagreement”. Even the Veterans Fast for Life from here in the United States must agree when saying, “when leaders act contrary to conscience, we must act contrary to leaders.” To understand why civil disobedience is so important in our lives you must first look into your heart and realize that the integrity of mankind has no need of rules.
Civil disobedience has its roots in one of this country’s most fundamental principles: popular sovereignty. The people hold the power, and those entrusted to govern by the people must wield
The book Fires of Jubilee: Nat Turner’s Fierce Rebellion (New York, Ny: Harper Perennial, 1990) by Stephen B. Oates portrays a slave rebellion and uprising in the 1830’s. Oates has written many books on American history and his style of writing makes his books readable and popular. He has become a unique storyteller of his time, in his book he tells of a transformation that changed the city of South Hampton, Virginia forever, an unspeakable action heard throughout the whole nation and insurrection. What is an insurrection? It is a rebellion, revolution, mutiny and uprising, a concept that has never lost hope in African-American slaves.
A Rebel Without A Cause is a movie directed at the young adults of the 1950s. Teenager, a new term for young adults, is brought about within this film as a way to describe the character of the young adults. The movie was directed towards the teenagers because of their growing population and use of money for fashion and entertainment. However, within this movie, some of the most important understandings about family life during the decade are manifested. The issues of teenagers erupt because of family and school life, and as a result, the teens took drastic actions. The use of tobacco cigarettes and dangerous car races are two of the evident examples within the film.
“Who gets killed in the case of violent revolution? The poor, the workers.” he states. By providing this, he shows how cases of violence can cause even the lowest classes to result in misfortune. Because of this, the audience is left with an emotional appeal to the ones effected.He also uses Gandhi's solution to fight peacefully, which was the boycott. “The boycott, as Gandhi taught, is the most nearly perfect instrument of nonviolent change, allowing masses of people to participate actively in a cause.” he adds. By using a historical figure, the reader feels moved and inspired. As a result, the act of protests and boycotts are looked upon and
Ridel, B, 'The real losers in Egypt's uprising', The Daily Best Online, 13 February 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2011< http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-02-13/al-qaeda-absent-in-hosni-mubaraks-fall-and-egyptian-revolution/>
Civil Disobedience occurs when an individual or group of people are in violation of the law rather than a refusal of the system as a whole. There is evidence of civil disobedience dating back to the era after Jesus was born. Jesus followers broke the laws that went against their faith. An example of this is in Acts 4:19-20,”God told the church to preach the gospel, so they defied orders to keep quiet about Jesus,” In my opinion civil disobedience will always be needed in the world. The ability to identify with yourself and knowing right from wrong helps to explain my opinion. Often in society when civil
In the Theory of Justice by John Rawls, he defines civil disobedience,” I shall begin by defining civil disobedience as a public, nonviolent, conscientious yet political act contrary to law usually done with the aim of bringing about a change in the law or policies of the government”.
Sometimes civil disobedience can become violent as in the case in South Africa during the struggle to end apartied. It started out with passive resistance, but after years of struggling with no change, a violent group was formed and was willing to do anything to get the freedom they desired.
Did you know that the average gender wage gap in America, as of 2015, was
One cannot be obedient to one’s power without being disobedient to another. In his article, “Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem,” Erich Fromm argues people obey authority to feel safe. When one obeys, they become an ambiguous part of a whole, no longer accountable for actions or left on their own. In Ian Parker’s article, “Obedience,” analyzing Milgram's experiment, he claims people obey orders when there is no second option. According to Parker, if someone obeys an order, but there is no alternative, their accountability is lessoned. The two articles can speak to the tomfoolery that takes place in the motion picture, Mean Girls, which highlights a typical high school under the regime of the queen bee, Regina George, with her followers Gretchen Weiners and Karen Smith; the regime is usurped by a new girl, Cady Heron. Under the scope of Parker and Fromm, it can be argued that Gretchen was not disobeying Regina when she realigned with Cady, but actually remaining obedient to the social order of high school.
Chenoweth, Erica, and Maria J. Stephan. 2011. Why Civil Resistance Works : The Strategic Logic of
----- "Civil Disobedience" from A World of Ideas - Essential Readings for College Readers, Lee A. Jacobus, Bedford Books, 1998, 1849(123 -146)