Political authority and resistance to injustice: A Confucian perspective

Abstract

Those who bear the burdens of injustice and oppression are entitled to act in ways contrary to existing laws and institutions to secure their own entitlements and those of others. This article aims to articulate a Confucian perspective on resistance against injustice. There are reasons for thinking that the notion of resistance is fundamentally at odds with Confucian political thought. In this article, I move beyond this simple conflict/compatibility model and explore the complex relationships between resistance and Confucianism. On one hand, some of Confucianism’s core commitments can be better attained in contemporary societies by allowing resistance; on the other, a Confucian perspective can offer insights into current discussions on the ethics of resistance.

Environmental Activism and the Fairness of Costs Argument for Uncivil Disobedience

“…This diagnosis is unsatisfactory. There is now a growing literature on the justifiability of uncivil disobedience, understood as illegal political action that falls short of the standards of civil disobedience (Adams 2018;Delmas 2018;Flanigan 2021;Ip 2022;Koltonski 2021;Lai 2019;Lim 2021). Here, we provide a further argument that bolsters the support for certain acts of uncivil disobedience, by focusing on an undertheorized aspect of disobedience: How the costs imposed by disobedients are justifiable to those who bear them.…”