This book presents a radical, but compelling, argument that liberal democracies must be able accommodate violent protest. We often think of violent protest as being alien to liberal democracy, an extraordinary occurrence within our peaceful societies. Yet this is simply untrue. Violent protest is a frequent and normal part of democratic life. The real question is: should it be? Can rebellion or riot against government ever be morally justifiable in our society? By framing state demands for obedience as "legitimacy claims," or moral arguments, states who make illogical and unjust laws make weaker arguments for obedience. This in turn gives citizens stronger moral reasons to disobey. Violence can act as moral dialogue – with expressive and instrumental value in denouncing unjust laws – and can have just as important a role in democracy as peaceful protest. This book examines the activism of Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters, Extinction Rebellion, Black Lives Matter, and many other groups internationally, in order to demonstrate that not only can violent protest be acceptable; in times of grave injustice, it is unavoidable. This book will appeal to a broad range of academics, in legal and political theory, sociolegal studies, criminology, history, and philosophy, as well as others with interests in contemporary forms of protest.
Author(s): James Greenwood-Reeves
Publisher: Routledge/GlassHouse
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 175
City: London
Cover
Half Title
Title
Copyright
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Why violent protest?
Theoretical background
Chapter synopsis
Theoretical frames
Theoretical presumptions
1 Constitutional morality
Liberal democratic theory: a very brief overview
Moral grounds and constitutional morality
Difficulties with constitutional moral principles
Chapter 1 conclusion
2 Legitimacy
Introduction
Conceptions of legitimacy
Consent
Sociological theories
Normative rationality
Legitimacy claims
Legitimation and constitutionality
Limitations to this concept
State legitimacy
Chaos
Does a poor legitimacy claim generate automatic duties to disobey?
Prima facie duties of obedience and “everyday law”
Amoral constitutions and states
Chapter 2 conclusion
3 Protest as a legitimacy counterclaim in democratic constitutions
Protest: a brief theoretical overview
Protest, constitutional morality, and legitimacy claims
Caveats
Illustrative cases of legitimacy claims in protest
Chapter 3 conclusion
4 Violent protest as a legitimacy counterclaim in democratic constitutions
Overview
Definitions of violence
The roles of political violence
Violent protests as legitimacy counterclaims: the language of violence
State violence
Chapter 4 conclusion
5 General limitations to violent protest
“General and specific” limitations to political violence
General limitations to violence in protest
Illegality
Violence as innately immoral
Nonviolence as preference
Needlessness
Instrumentality
Social cohesion
Chapter 5 conclusion: learning from limitations
6 Specific limitations to the legitimacy of violent protest
“Legitimate” state monopolies on violence
The liberty objection
The rule of law or justice objection
The democracy objection
Chapter 6 conclusion: justifying violent protest
Conclusions
The US Capitol incident and beyond
One last comment: passing on the torch
Index
