Property Disobedience as Protest - Democracy, Citizenship, and Constitutionalism by William E Scheuerman Hardcover

About the Book

"Property damage constitutes a commonplace feature of global political protest. How then to evaluate it? Pushing back against the tendency to conflate it with political violence, Scheuerman grapples with the question of when, if ever, politically motivated property harms are justifiable, drawing on a wide range of timely real-world examples"-- Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

William E. Scheuerman's book explores when, if ever, politically motivated property harms are justifiable

In 2020, Black Lives Matter activists toppled Confederate monuments and occasionally vandalized police vehicles and stations. Climate activists have damaged natural gas pipelines and famous artworks. In Hong Kong, pro-democracy students targeted businesses sympathetic to the mainland government. On January 6, 2021, far-right groups at the US Capitol mistreated public and private property as part of their efforts to disrupt finalizing election results. Property damage constitutes an increasingly commonplace feature of global political protest. How then to interpret and evaluate its proliferation? The media regularly describes such acts as "violent," as do most scholars. However, William E. Scheuerman's book pushes back against conflating politically motivated violations of property rights with violence. Political violence has no place in democratic politics. Yet indiscriminately grouping property damage together with acts destructive of and harmful to persons is conceptually confusing and politically misleading. After all, Americans celebrate the Boston Tea Party. So why do most of us now categorically condemn many seemingly parallel acts?

Scheuerman tackles challenging and politically timely questions. When, if ever, are politically motivated property harms justifiable? What standards should we expect of those pursuing them to meet, under democratic conditions? How are those standards undermined by the rise of authoritarian populism around the world? Focusing on identifiably nonviolent varieties of what Scheuerman calls property disobedience, his book explores a variety of real-life examples, both past and present, to understand how and why such acts may be politically justifiable--or should instead be viewed as beyond the pale.

Review Quotes

"Against the common view that property damage is inherently violent, William E. Scheuerman offers a compelling, original, and timely account of 'property disobedience' that aligns with political nonviolence."-- "Candice Delmas, Northeastern University"

"In a turbulent age of deepening social unrest and rising political repression, William E. Scheuerman dares to say the unsayable: while violence against people is always in principle antithetical to democracy, some types of property disobedience--corporate 'takedowns, ' campus occupations, toppling public monuments, and sabotaging arms factories--may well serve to rekindle and strengthen its spirit and substance. A brilliant book by a brilliant political thinker whose analytic sophistication and political humility show why in these difficult times thinking imaginatively about democracy is so vital for securing its future."-- "John Keane, University of Sydney, author of The Life and Death of Democracy"

About the Author

William E. Scheuerman is the James H. Rudy Professor of Political Science at Indiana University. He is author of several books, most recently, The End of Law: Carl Schmitt in the Twenty-First Century and Civil Disobedience.