Political Theory

Civil Disobedience in Defense of Liberty

ABSTRACT

Starting with selected readings from writers such as de la Boétie, Spooner, Thoreau, and others, conferees considered, from historical and philosophical perspectives, the place and effects of noncooperation, nonviolent resistance, dissidence, and disobedience in the defense or advancement of liberty.

READING LIST

Conference Readings

de Jasay, Anthony. The State. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1998.

de la Boétie, Estienne. The Discourse of Voluntary Servitude. Translated by Harry Kurz. New York: Columbia University Press, 1942.

Gandhi, Mahatma. Non-Violent Resistance. Mineola: Dover Publications, 2001.

Havel, Vaclav. The Power of the Powerless: Citizens Against the State in Central-Eastern Europe. Edited by John Keane. Armonk: M. E. Sharpe, 1985.

King, Dr. Martin Luther Jr. Why We Can't Wait. New York: Signet Classics, 2000.

Spooner, Lysander. No Treason. No. VI. The Constitution of No Authority. Boston: Lysander Spooner, 1870.

Thoreau, Henry David. Walden and Other Writings. Edited by Brooks Atkinson. New York: Modern Library, 1950.