Direct action and democracy: a controversial present, a contentious history

Across the globe, many polities are currently marked by the eruption of ‘direct action’ campaigns: for environmental protection; for peace; and against racial, gender, and class inequality. People march, demonstrate, disrupt, occupy, and boycott. They typically justify these actions as a legitimate response to the failures of political authorities. They also present their actions as an authentic form of ‘direct’ or ‘participatory’ democracy. Political elites sometimes tolerate these campaigns and selectively incorporate their demands. Increasingly, however, they seek to restrict the scope for ‘direct action’, and to portray ‘direct action’ as a threat to legitimate order, and as a violent assertion of minority interests.  

Conflicts around ‘direct action’ and ‘democracy’ have a long history, seldom referenced in contemporary political argument. In this lecture, Professor Sean Scalmer traces that history, from the 1890s until the present. This helps to establish that the tension between insurgent protest and formal authority is not new. It also establishes that the prevailing meanings of ‘direct action’ and ‘democracy’ have changed over time, as each has shaped the other. A historical perspective also suggests a practical conclusion: attempts to limit and restrict protest threaten the vitality of democracy, along with its capacity for renewal.

This lecture honours the memory of Kathleen Fitzpatrick (1905–1990) who lectured in History from 1939 until her retirement as Associate Professor in 1962. She was a dedicated researcher and a gifted and influential teacher. Susan Foley and Charles Sowerwine have noted: “Her greatest legacy was the enduring influence of her lectures. Appropriately, a lecture is given in her name".

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