Countering Obedience

From Peacebuilding

Contents 1 Aims: 2 Time: 3 Materials: 4 Procedure: 5 Handouts: 6 Why do people obey? 6.1 Habit 6.2 Fear of Sanctions 6.3 Moral Obligation: The Common Good of Society 6.4 Moral Obligation, Superhuman Factors 6.5 Moral Obligation, Legitimacy of the Command 6.6 Moral Obligation, Conformity of Commands to Accepted Norms 6.7 Self-interest 6.8 Psychological Identification With the Ruler 6.9 Zones of Indifference 6.10 Lack of Self-confidence

Aims:

• To analyse the reasons why people obey political power

• To identify ways of opposing the reasons for obeying political power

Time:

At least 45 minutes, but this activity can provide work for several hours

Materials:

• Flip charts

• Markers

• Handouts illustrating the reasons why people obey (see below)

Procedure:

I) Divide the plenary into groups of three.

II) Distribute a handout (see below) to each group. Allow sufficient time for reading and becoming familiar with the content.

III) Assign the task: “After discussing the explanation(s) for obedience presented in your handout, brainstorm and identify ways of opposing them (in general or with reference to a specific context, depending on the workshop). Please note down your decisions”. Allow sufficient time for group work.

Note: Ask the groups to be specific and realistic.

Example:

One group is working on “habit” as an explanation for obedience. They discuss and agree on the following: “Let people know that just because they’re used to obeying the government doesn’t necessarily mean it’s right to do so or that it can’t be changed”. This sounds pretty general. You decide to help this group by giving them specific questions:

• How would you do that?

• Who would you like to influence and how?

• What concrete actions would you plan and implement?

• What would be your goal? Would it be realistic and achievable?

• What would your strategy be?

• How would you define complete success in such a struggle?

• What kind of resistance would you likely encounter? How would you deal with that?

• Etc.

IV) End group work. Ask each group to pair up with another one and discuss the results of their work. Allow sufficient time, but try to encourage a quick exchange as the procedure will be repeated.

V) Repeat step IV) as necessary, in order to allow each group to become familiar with different “explanations for obedience” and ways of opposing them.

Handouts:

The following content is adapted from Sharp, Gene, The Politics of Nonviolent Action: Power and Struggle (Part One), Boston: Porter Sargent, 2000 (1973), pp. 19-25. You can divide the following into two or more handouts, in accordance with requirements. You can even use one handout for each point.

Why do people obey?

Habit

One reason why people obey is that obedience has long been practised by humanity (or by a specific group/society) and has become a habit. Therefore, people may accept obedience as such, simply because it’s well established behaviour.

Fear of Sanctions

Sanctions generally involve the threat or use of some form of physical violence against disobedient people. These are especially effective when they are incorporated in the law or practice of the state. The use of sanctions is an exercise of coercive power and operates on people’s fears.

Moral Obligation: The Common Good of Society

People may feel a moral obligation to obey. A moral obligation might be partly a product of the normal process by which individuals absorb the customs, ways and beliefs of their society as they grow up, and partly the result of deliberate indoctrination. Moral obligation may originate from a belief that constraint by government is for the common good of society.

Moral Obligation, Superhuman Factors

People may feel a moral obligation to obey. A moral obligation might be partly a product of the normal process by which individual absorb the customs, ways and beliefs of their society as they grow up, and partly the result of deliberate indoctrination. Moral obligation may originate from an identification of the lawgiver or ruler with superhuman qualities, powers, or principles, which make disobedience inconceivable – such as in theocracies.

Moral Obligation, Legitimacy of the Command

People may feel a moral obligation to obey. A moral obligation might be partly a product of the normal process by which individual absorb the customs, ways and beliefs of their society as they grow up, and partly the result of deliberate indoctrination. Moral obligation may originate from a belief in the legitimacy of the command, originated from the official position of who is commanding, by his being in accordance with tradition or law or by respecting the established procedure for commanding.

Moral Obligation, Conformity of Commands to Accepted Norms

People may feel a moral obligation to obey. A moral obligation might be partly a product of the normal process by which individual absorb the customs, ways and beliefs of their society as they grow up, and partly the result of deliberate indoctrination. Moral obligation may originate from a belief that the command is in accordance with accepted norms or values. In this case people obey because the behaviour commanded by the ruler is what they believe to be right in any case.

Self-interest

Organisations and institutions often obtain the desired cooperation of individuals by offering incentives, such as money, position and prestige. Even people who dislike a ruler or system may continue not only to obey passively, but even to serve actively in what they consider to be their own self-interest.

Psychological Identification With the Ruler

People may obey because of an emotional identification with the ruler or system. Deutsch refers to people who look “upon the government in some manner as an extension of themselves or upon themselves as an extension of the government”. (Deutsch, K. W., “Cracks in the Monolith” in Carl J. Friedrich (ed.), Totalitarianism, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1954; p. 315.)

Zones of Indifference

Each person seems to have a zone of indifference within which they will accept orders, without consciously questioning their authority or rightfulness. How wide this zone is varies, depending on a number of political, social and psychological conditions.

Lack of Self-confidence

Many people have insufficient confidence in themselves, their judgement and their capacities to make them capable of disobeying and resistance. Having no strong will of their own, they will accept their rulers’ will.