Reload Disobedience

re:publica 17 - All Sessions vor 9 Jahren

Civil disobedience is a crucial political practice of our times. Since the early 90s, civil disobedience was partly transformed in digital practices by artists, activists and political technologists. The concept of civil disobedience is contested by itsel

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Theresa Züger Civil disobedience is a crucial political practice of
our times. It defends the justification of political action, which
is unlawful or at least in conflict with the law and at the same
time aims for more just society or is directed against all kinds of
democratic deficits. In human history civil disobediences proved
itself as an effective element of democratic politics to foster
political change and social transformation. Since the early
90s, artists, activists and political technologists started to
explore how digital actions could become new forms of civil
disobedience. While on one side, adapting ideas of more traditional
forms of civil disobedience, digital disobedient actions also
reinvented and challenged the concept with a whole new set of
questions that arose with its digital realization. This talk will
bring political theory about civil disobedience in dialog with
claims and actions by the political subjects that reinvented what
civil disobedience means in the digital era. It will present
stories of digital disobedience the help understand what huge
potential but also what possible boundaries and challenges this
extraordinary political act entails.