The Ethics of Uncivil Protest and Resistance

Can violent resistance ever be justified as a means of protest? Brought to the fore of national consciousness by protest movements such as Black Lives Matter, as well as the January 6th storming of the U.S. Capitol, questions around the ethics of uncivil unrest urgently call for a wider scholarly examination and debate.

In this volume, editors Candice Delmas and Avia Pasternak bring together a collection of cutting-edge perspectives on the ethics of uncivil protest and resistance. The contributions in this book challenge the dominant consensus in liberal politics and philosophy that the only permissible form of illegal protest in democratic states is civil disobedience. The contributors argue instead that the distinction between civil and uncivil protest is far less rigid than was previously thought.

The book explores the meaning of civility and incivility, as well as related concepts like power, resistance, activism, and legitimacy. The contributors draw new conceptual distinctions and offer new and bold defences of uncivil forms of protest, from rioting to prison escapes and revolutionary movements. Overall, the volume establishes uncivil protest as an important new area of study and presents new questions and new answers to these complex challenges.

Candice Delmas is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Political Science at Northeastern University. She works at the intersection of social and political philosophy, ethics, and philosophy of law and is author of numerous publications, including A Duty to Resist: When Disobedience Should Be Uncivil (OUP, 2018).

Avia Pasternak is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Maryland. She has held previous academic positions at The University of Toronto, University College London and The University of Essex. She works on the ethics of protest and on collective and civic responsibility and is the author of numerous academic publications, including No Justice, No Peace (OUP, 2025).