Civil Disobedience and the Season of Political Discontent

Deeper Dive - DSU's podcast

In recent months we have listened to Donald Trump suggest there might be riots if he is denied the Republican nomination, witnessed several acts of political violence, and now we hear the emerging chants from a group called Democracy Spring promising the largest civil disobedience action in American political history. In our most recent podcast, "Civil Disobedience and the Season of Political Discontent," we examine the current political environment through the lens of Henry David Thoreau's and Martin Luther King's account of civil disobedience. We begin by investigating what Thoreau and King meant by civil disobedience, what makes civil disobedience civil, and how they differ. We conclude the episode by reflecting on the question of whether the coming season of political discontent will remain civil, or if it will slip towards something more ominous. Enjoy.