Essay On Everyday Resistance

It is impossible to define the methods used when resisting a government or institution. Lenin summaries the general feeling within a country at the brink of revolution when he says ‘A revolution occurs when those on top can do more, and when those below will stand for no more.’ This statement is applicable to many of the instances over the years although the techniques and outcomes that followed varied drastically. Due to the changes in society over the many decades containing revolutions the nature of resisting has adapted in order to cause the largest impact on the government. The admiration of the French Revolutions of the 19th century led to more recent ones to model their resistance on what they know of the past. Everyday resistance, which
This was working towards the idea that in order for a revolution to be successful it must transform humanity completely and to do that everyone must willingly be a part of the resistance. It was a form of insubordination that alerted the government to discontent within the citizens but gave them no formal cause to take action against the resisters. An example of this is East Germany in the 80s. A series of conflicts over wages and housing policies led to workers threatening to strike in June 1953. This unhappiness in the workplace did not fit in with the Communist ideology of taking pride in your work and therefore instilled a sense of fear within the state when faced with a crack in the system. Following these strikes, East Germany settled into a state of conservatism, everyday resistance never quite reaching the same heights again, but the idea that it could again happen was enough to keep the government worried. This is substantial evidence that everyday resistance can be effective when executed correctly and in a state of highly controlling