On Civil Disobedience and Liberal Democracy
Public Defence of PhD thesis by Tine Hindkjær Madsen.
The dissertation explores the complex relationship between civil disobedience and liberal democracy. Civil disobedience is an illegal mode of political protest that raises a moral problem in liberal democracy, because there is arguably a moral duty to obey democratically enacted laws and respect the decision of your fellow citizens, even when their decisions are wrong or unjust. At the same, acts of civil disobedience can serve as a valuable tool for relieving the great injustice and the democratic deficits that can occur in liberal democracies. The dissertation examines when it is morally warranted to engage in civil disobedience in a liberal democracy. Specifically, the dissertation considers whether 1) there is a belief-relative moral right to civil disobedience in a liberal democracy 2) whether superior political knowledge can defeat majority authority 3) whether dissenters are epistemically arrogant.
Ph.d.-afhandlingen undersøger forholdet mellem civil ulydighed og det liberale demokrati. Civil ulydighed er en ulovlig form for politisk protest, hvilket rejser en moralsk problemstilling i et liberalt demokrati: på den ene sider er der antageligt en moralsk pligt til at følge demokratisk vedtagne love og at respektere flertallets beslutninger, også når beslutningerne er uretfærdige og fejlagtige. På den anden side kan civil ulydighed også bidrage positivt til det liberale demokrati, idet civil ulydighed kan anvendes til at gøre op med store uretfærdigheder og demokratiske underskud. I afhandlingen undersøges det hvornår det er moralsk begrundet at ty til civil ulydighed i et liberalt demokrati. Nærmere bestemt undersøges følgende underspørgsmål 1) er der en moralsk rettighed til at begå civil ulydighed i et liberalt demokrati? 2) Er det legitimt at tilsidesætte majoritetens vilje, hvis man ved, majoriteten tager fejl? 3) Udviser aktivister epistemisk arrogance over for deres medborgere?
Assessment Committee
- Associate Professor Morten Ebbe Juul Nielsen, chairman (University of Copenhagen)
- Deputy Head of Department Sune Lægaard (Roskilde University)
- Professor Kimberley Brownlee (University of Warwick)
Moderator of defence
- Associate Professor Leo Catana (University of Copenhagen)
Copies of the thesis will be available for consultation before the defence at the following three places:
- At the Information Desk of Copenhagen University Library, South Campus
- In Reading Room East of the Royal Library (the Black Diamond)
- At Department of Media, Cognition and Communication, Karen Blixens Plads 8, 2300 Copenhagen S