Editing Insubordination

{{Short description|Act of willfully disobeying one's superior}}
{{Globalize|article|USA|2name=the United States|date=July 2013}}

'''Insubordination''' is the act of willfully [[obedience (human behavior)|disobeying]] a lawful order of one's superior. It is generally a punishable offense in [[hierarchical organization]]s such as the [[armed forces]], which depend on people lower in the [[Command hierarchy|chain of command]] obeying orders.

==Military==
Insubordination is when a service member willfully disobeys the lawful orders of a superior [[officer]]. If a [[military officer]] disobeys the lawful orders of their [[civilian control of the military|civilian superiors]], this also counts. For example, the [[head of state]] in many countries, is also the most superior officer of the military as the [[Commander in Chief]].<ref>usmilitary.about.com. [http://usmilitary.about.com/od/punitivearticles/a/mcm90.htm Article 90—Assaulting or willfully disobeying superior commissioned officer] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304120918/http://usmilitary.about.com/od/punitivearticles/a/mcm90.htm |date=2016-03-04 }}. Accessed December 9, 2010.</ref><ref>usmilitary.about.com.[http://usmilitary.about.com/od/punitivearticles/a/mcm91.htm Article 91—Insubordinate conduct toward warrant officer, NCO, or PO] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410041909/http://usmilitary.about.com/od/punitivearticles/a/mcm91.htm |date=2016-04-10 }}. Accessed December 9, 2010.</ref><ref>usmilitary.about.com.[http://usmilitary.about.com/od/punitivearticles/a/mcm92.htm Article 92—Failure to obey order or regulation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160511115823/http://usmilitary.about.com/od/punitivearticles/a/mcm92.htm |date=2016-05-11 }}. Accessed December 9, 2010.</ref><ref>usmilitary.about.com.[http://usmilitary.about.com/od/punitivearticles/a/mcm94.htm Article 94—Mutiny and sedition] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310104727/http://usmilitary.about.com/od/punitivearticles/a/mcm94.htm |date=2016-03-10 }}. Accessed December 9, 2010.</ref> Generally, however, an officer or soldier may disobey an unlawful order to the point of [[mutiny]] (see [[Nuremberg defense]]).

In the [[United States Armed Forces|U.S. military]], insubordination is covered under Article 91 of the [[Uniform Code of Military Justice]].<ref>usmilitary.about.com.[http://usmilitary.about.com/od/punitivearticles/a/mcm91.htm Article 91—Insubordinate conduct toward warrant officer, NCO, or PO] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410041909/http://usmilitary.about.com/od/punitivearticles/a/mcm91.htm |date=2016-04-10 }}. Accessed November 25, 2013.</ref> It covers disobeying lawful orders as well as disrespectful language or even striking a superior. The article for insubordination should not be confused with the article for contempt. While Article 91 of the UCMJ deals predominantly with disobeying or disrespecting a superior and applies to [[Enlisted rank#United States Armed Forces|enlisted]] members and [[Warrant officer (United States)|warrant officers]], Article 88 involves the use of [[contempt]]uous words against certain appointed or elected officials and only applies to [[Officer (armed forces)#United States|commissioned officers]].<ref>usmilitary.about.com.[http://usmilitary.about.com/od/punitivearticles/a/mcm88.htm Article 88—Contempt toward officials] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414005233/http://usmilitary.about.com/od/punitivearticles/a/mcm88.htm |date=2016-04-14 }}. Accessed December 9, 2010.</ref>

According to a 2021 typology, military disobedience can take four forms: "defiance, refinement, grudging obedience, and exit."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hundman|first=Eric|date=2021|title=The Diversity of Disobedience in Military Organizations|url=https://academic.oup.com/jogss/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jogss/ogab003/6154363|journal=Journal of Global Security Studies|volume=6|issue=4|language=en|doi=10.1093/jogss/ogab003|url-access=subscription}}</ref> A 2019 study argued that military disobedience may arise when a tension is created in the social networks of a soldier, which gives the soldier motivations and justifications to disobey orders.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Hundman|first1=Eric|last2=Parkinson|first2=Sarah E.|date=2019-02-04|title=Rogues, degenerates, and heroes: Disobedience as politics in military organizations|journal=European Journal of International Relations|volume=25|issue=3|pages=645–671|language=en|doi=10.1177/1354066118823891|doi-access=free}}</ref>

==Private sector==
Other types of hierarchical structures, especially corporations, may use insubordination as a reason for [[Termination of employment|dismissal]] or [[censure]] of an employee.

There have been court cases in the [[United States]] which have involved charges of insubordination from the employer with counter charges of infringement of [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|First Amendment]] rights from the employee. A number of these cases have reached the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] usually involving a conflict between an institution of [[higher education]] and a [[Faculty (university)|faculty]] member.<ref>Imber, Michael and Tyll Van Geel (2001). ''A Teacher's Guide to Education Law''. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. p. 196. {{ISBN|0-8058-3754-X}}. Google Book Search. Retrieved on December 10, 2010.</ref><ref>Kaplin, William A. and Barbar A. Lee (2007). ''The Law of Higher Education''. [[Jossey-Bass]], [[John Wiley & Sons]]. p. 234. {{ISBN|978-0-7879-7095-6}}. Google Book Search. Retrieved on December 10, 2010.</ref>

In the modern [[wiktionary:Workplace|workplace]] in the [[Western world]], hierarchical power relationships are usually sufficiently internalized so that the issue of formal charges of insubordination are rare. In his book ''[[Disciplined Minds]]'', American physicist and writer Jeff Schmidt points out that professionals are trusted to run organizations in the interests of their employers. Because employers cannot be on hand to manage every decision, professionals are trained "to make sure that the subtext of each and every detail of their work advances the right interests—or skewers the disfavored ones" in the absence of overt control.<ref>Schmidt, Jeff (2001). ''Disciplined Minds: A Critical Look at Salaried Professionals and the Soul-battering System That Shapes Their Lives''. [[Rowman & Littlefield Publishers]], Inc. p. 41. {{ISBN|0-7425-1685-7}}. Google Book Search. Retrieved on December 10, 2010.</ref>

==Notable examples==
There have been a number of famous and notorious people who have committed insubordination or ''publicly'' objected to an organizational practice.
* [[Emil Bessels]] – German Arctic explorer who undermined and likely poisoned the [[Polaris expedition|''Polaris'' expedition]]'s commander, [[Charles Francis Hall]]
* [[Daniel V. Gallery]] – U.S. Navy admiral whose published articles played a role in the public debate during the [[Revolt of the Admirals]]
* [[George Grosz]] – German artist and soldier
* [[Mike Jackson (British Army officer)|Mike Jackson]] – Commanding Officer of KFOR during the Kosovo War. Countermanded an order by [[Wesley Clark|Wesely Clark]] (the Supreme Allied Commander Europe) thus avoiding an international [[Incident at Pristina airport|incident at Pristina Airport]].
* [[Douglas MacArthur]] – U.S. general [[Relief of Douglas MacArthur|relieved of command]] by President [[Harry S. Truman]] during the [[Korean War]]
* [[Billy Mitchell]] – U.S. Army Air Corps commander during [[World War I]] and proponent of [[air power]] during the interwar years
* [[Stanislav Petrov]] – Russian army officer who refused to report a detected missile strike averting nuclear war
* [[Albert Pike]] – charged by the [[Confederate Army]] with insubordination
* [[Jackie Robinson]] – American [[baseball]] player accused of insubordination while in the military, but exonerated at a [[court martial]]
* [[Thomas Scott (Orangeman)|Thomas Scott]] – executed by [[Louis Riel]]
* [[Hunter S. Thompson]] – American writer, fired from ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine
* [[Jeffrey Wigand]] – vice president of Brown & Williamson, revealed [[tobacco industry]] practices

==See also==
* [[Contumacy]]
* [[Civil disobedience]]
* [[Contempt of court]]
* [[Criticism]]
* [[Discrediting]]
* [[Failure to obey a police order]]
*[[Fragging]]
* [[Mutiny]]
* [[Rebellion]]
* [[Whistleblower]]
* [[Court case]]s involving insubordination:
** ''Rendell-Baker v. Kohn'', 457 U.S. 830 (1982 US Supreme Court)
** ''[[Schenck v. United States]]'', 249 U.S. 47 (1919 US Supreme Court)
** ''[[Perry v. Sindermann]]'', 408 U.S. 593

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
{{Conformity}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Hierarchy]]
[[Category:Military law]]
[[Category:Disobedience]]