Disruptive Disobedience

Abstract

This article addresses a neglected class of cases of civic resistance involving the anonymous and covert disruption of institutions and practices. Such cases have become more commonplace in the first decades of the twenty-first century with the rise of “hacktivism,” but they sit uneasily within the traditional conceptual and normative framework of civil disobedience the legitimacy of which is premised on the publicity of dissent and on the willingness of dissenters to accept the legal consequences of their actions. To make sense of these new forms of civic resistance, the article introduces the concept of “disruptive disobedience.” It elaborates the concept by contrasting it with other forms of civic resistance, and proposes a moral justification for it by presenting it as a corrective to democratic exclusion. Finally, it tests that justification by applying it to a prominent contemporary case involving Aaron Swartz’s illegal download of JSTOR research articles.