Revija za sociologiju, Vol. 32 No. 1-2, 2001.
Izvorni znanstveni članak
Legitimate of civil disobedience
Milan Mesić
; Odsjek za sociologiju, Filozofski fakultet, Sveučilište u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Sažetak
The article is concerned with the question of which sorts of extrainstitutionally (collective) action in a democratic society may claim a status of civil disobedience, i. e. a status of a legitimate public behavior. Civil disobedience is, by definition, illegal act. Is it not a legal right to disrespect the law a contradictio in adjecto? It turnes out that it depends on the concept of democracy and understanding of the nature of civil disobedience. In the political theory’ of the advanced democracies two basic normative approaches to civil disobedience have been conceptualized: liberal and radical democratic. In the recent time, the advocates of radical politics of civil society have made an attempt to elaborate a critical synthesis of them. Each of the models tolerates some forms and acts of civil disobedience, which ere being, however, differently legitimized. Liberals acknowledge legitimacy of illegal (collective) acting only in the case of defense and expansion of the individual human rights. Democrats focus themselves on defense and the development of democracy, as a basis of civil disobedience legitimacy. The fundamental assumptions and limitations of both of the “classical” approaches are presented and discussed here. The model of radical civil society explicitly rejects a notion of a perfect, once definitelly accomplished democracy. We can only talk about a “nearly” just and democratic system. Finally, it is suggested that the two major types of extrainstitutional collective actions might be distinguished in the transitional Croatian society. According to the author only one of them can be legitimized within the frameworks of the presented concepts of social justice and democratic legitimacy.
Ključne riječi
civil disobedience; democracy; human rights; civil rights; civil society
Hrčak ID:
154086
URI
Datum izdavanja:
30.6.2001.
Posjeta: 2.089 *