Insubordination is the act of willfully disobeying a lawful order of one's superior. It is generally a punishable offense in hierarchical organizations such as the

armed forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a ...

, which depend on people lower in the 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 superiors, this also counts. For example, the

head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

in many countries, is also the most superior officer of the military as the Commander in Chief. Generally, however, an officer or soldier may disobey an unlawful order to the point of

mutiny Mutiny is a revolt among a group of people (typically of a military or a crew) to oppose, change, or remove superiors or their orders. The term is commonly used for insubordination by members of the military against an officer or superior, ...

(see Nuremberg defense). In the U.S. military, insubordination is covered under Article 91 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. 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 members and warrant officers, Article 88 involves the use of contemptuous words against certain appointed or elected officials and only applies to commissioned officers. According to a 2021 typology, military disobedience can take four forms: "defiance, refinement, grudging obedience, and exit." 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.

Private sector

Other types of hierarchical structures, especially corporations, may use insubordination as a reason for dismissal or censure of an employee. There have been court cases in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

which have involved charges of insubordination from the employer with counter charges of infringement of 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 Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

and a faculty member. In the modern workplace in the

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, 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.Schmidt, Jeff (2001). ''Disciplined Minds: A Critical Look at Salaried Professionals and the Soul-battering System That Shapes Their Lives''.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group is an American independent academic publishing company founded in 1949. Under several imprints, the company offers scholarly books for the academic market, as well as trade books. The company also owns ...

, Inc. p. 41. . Google Book Search. Retrieved on December 10, 2010.

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'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 – Commanding Officer of KFOR during the Kosovo War. Countermanded an order by Wesely Clark (the Supreme Allied Commander Europe) thus avoiding an international incident at Pristina Airport. * Douglas MacArthur – U.S. general relieved of command by President Harry S. Truman during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

* Billy Mitchell – U.S. Army Air Corps commander during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

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 Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player accused of insubordination while in the military, but exonerated at a court martial * Thomas Scott – executed by Louis Riel * Hunter S. Thompson – American writer, fired from ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine * Jeffrey Wigand – vice president of Brown & Williamson, revealed tobacco industry practices

References

External links

{{Authority control Hierarchy Military law Disobedience

Military

Private sector

Notable examples

See also

References

External links