How Does Civil Disobedience Affect Society

Civil disobedience can positively impact a free society in multiple ways. In a free society, citizens are able to speak, act and think as they please. However, when people disagree with an existing law, protests, riots, and lawlessness may occur. These often turn violent, and in result, citizens or officers are harmed. America has seen many of these recently due to an outrage in the election of Donald J. Trump. Many anti-Trump protests have broke out all over the country, and most of these have turned violent. However, when violence is involved, people lose sight of what they’re protesting and the entire movement becomes a lost cause. Peaceful protests have much more of an effect in society because violence is out of the picture, so the main purpose of the resistance remains clearly evident. Civil disobedience consists of sit-ins, boycotts, marches, petitioning, etc. An example of this that has happened recently is the Women’s March. Women, Men, and Public Figures from all over the world marched for rights pertaining to pro-choice policies. In lieu of destructively marching for a point, the peaceful, non-violent nature of the Women’s march
Some of the most famous ones are The Boston Tea Party, Civil Rights Movement and The Women’s Suffrage. Perhaps some famous non-violent resisters come to mind such as Rosa Parks, or Mahatma Gandhi. These people were the leaders of two remarkable revolutions and because of their peaceful actions, they were able to effectively influence society and advocate for change. In “Rosa Parks and Civil Disobedience”, Korpe states that, “A symbol of dignity and strength in the face of discrimination, Parks came to be known as ‘the mother of the civil rights movement.’ She famously declared, ‘I would like to be known as a person who is concerned about freedom and equality and justice and prosperity – for all people.’”