Date of Award
2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelors
Department
Social Sciences
Second Department
Humanities
First Advisor
Gorup, Michael
Second Advisor
Edwards, David
Area of Concentration
Political Science and Religion
Abstract
This thesis seeks to understand the ways in which Martin Luther King, Jr. uses religious and political frameworks of time in his theory and praxis of civil disobedience. Better understanding civil disobedience is crucial for effective analysis of social movements and for envisioning the political future. The racialization and segregation of time results in an uneven application of timeframes and a power imbalance regarding the ability to influence the political use of time. This extends to the popular representation of the civil rights movement, which shapes a series of events into the generic form of romance, obscuring significant causal relationships and overemphasizing certain events and figures. King’s roots in the Black Church and employment of the Black Social Gospel led him to emphasize the ultimate goal of reconciliation and power sharing through a persistent hope that looks beyond the immediate to envision a hope for a better future. Additionally, his theory of civil disobedience aims to disrupt everyday life to force a confrontation between injustice and those who have been ignoring it, interfering with the increasing pace of life’s ability to deepen injustice through local stability. The tension between King’s use of time and the state’s use of time meant that the transformation of society as King imagined it would require a struggle for justice over an undetermined length of time. Understanding the connection between King’s theological and political temporal orientations and their effect on his perception and practice of civil disobedience to express dissent elucidates his theory of civil disobedience, political use of time, and the interactions between the temporal expectations within democracy as they relate to racial justice initiatives.
Recommended Citation
Havel, Ash, "“Now is the Time to Make Justice a Reality”:
Religious and Political Frameworks of Time in Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Theory and Practice of Civil Disobedience" (2025). Theses & ETDs. 6678.
https://digitalcommons.ncf.edu/theses_etds/6678