0 the act by a group of people of refusing to obey laws or pay taxes, as a peaceful way of expressing their disapproval of those laws or taxes and in order to persuade the government to change them: --
Gandhi and Martin Luther King both led campaigns of civil disobedience to try to persuade the authorities to change their policies.
1 the refusal of citizens to obey certain laws or pay taxes as a peaceful way to express disapproval of those laws or taxes: --
[ U ] Campaigns of civil disobedience forced an end to segregation.
For instance, the topics of nuclear deterrence and civil disobedience are clearly and concisely introduced.
Instead, descriptions of friction with the king, civil disobedience or electoral disputes were relegated to the dim and distant past.
Its activities included mass national demonstrations and international campaigning, and related groups were involved in local direct action protests and extensive civil disobedience.
In the 1950s and 1960s, however, it was instrumental in spreading the ideas linked to non-violent civil disobedience and non-violent direct action.
Unlike conscientious objection, civil disobedience is inimical to the state.
Civil disobedience here, too, must stand the test of last resort and utility.
Nevertheless, noncompliance, like civil disobedience, must meet several tests.
Although physicians sometimes engage in civil disobedience, they do not often violate the law in their professional capacities.