Introduction

This introduction chapter starts with a short description of the context in which the concept of civil disobedience originally emerged and elaborates on how the classic concept has taken increasingly global forms. It then outlines the key themes and topics of the edited volume and the logic of the three sections of the book. While the first section focuses on the classic concept of civil disobedience, the second section discusses its new alternations, and the third ponders on the “civility” aspect of civil disobedience. The introduction also summarises the main arguments and contributions of all chapters that offer a wide variety of perspectives through empirical examples and cases from Asia and Europe, especially the Nordic countries.