It is also known as "passive resistance". It is the refusal to obey the demands or commands of a government occupying power, without resorting to violence or active measures of opposition; its usual purpose is to force concessions from the government or occupying power.
Civil disobedience has been a major tactic and philosophy of nationalist movements in Africa and India, in the American civil rights movement, and of labour, anti-war, and other social movements in many countries.
