Demonstrations against racism and police brutality have put the words听dissent听补苍诲听protest听at the center of our vocabulary this year.
Dictionary.com has seen a surge of interest in these words, which听speak to their relevance to our current times. The death of George Floyd鈥攁 Black man who was killed after a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes鈥攈as inspired worldwide protests that continue to this day.
But there鈥檚 another noteworthy use of dissent in the news as well. On September 18, 2020, Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away after serving 27 years as a Supreme Court justice. Some of Ginsburg鈥檚 most memorable听opinions were her dissents.
But, even though听dissent 补苍诲听protest are both terms that people can use to describe forms of disagreement and discontent, they don’t mean the same thing.
What is dissent?
To dissent is “to differ in sentiment or opinion, especially from the majority.” Recorded in English in the 15th century, the word derives from the Latin听dissentire, literally “to feel or think (sentire) differently (dis-).” Dissent is also a noun form, found by the 16th century.
But, we typically don鈥檛 use the word dissent for any run-of-the-mill disagreement. If your friend wants sushi for dinner but you hate it, you might be dissenting, but it鈥檇 be pretty extra to call it such. Instead, dissent usually refers to a more formal difference of opinion, as with a political majority or government policy.
What does dissent mean in the Supreme Court?
We can find听dissent in action on the US Supreme Court. The court justices vote to reach a decision on the cases they hear, but every justice on the court has the right to write and publish a dissent, if they so wish, when they strongly disagree with a majority ruling.
In recent years, some of most prominent听dissents came from the late Justice Ginsburg, whose penchant and prowess for writing mic-dropping dissenting opinions earned her the nickname the听Notorious RBG, a reference to legendary rapper The Notorious B.I.G.
Ginsburg issued noteworthy dissents against a 2013 ruling听gutting the Voting Rights Act and against a 2014 ruling听allowing employers to deny insurance coverage for birth control on religious grounds, to name a few.
The 5鈥�4 ruling in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby prompted a now-famous dissent by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who condemned the court鈥檚 decision to use RFRA, a law originally intended…
— UniteWomenOrg庐 (@UniteWomenOrg)
In 2018, Ginsburg won praise when she joined Justice Sonia Sotomayor in issuing a withering dissent against Donald Trump鈥檚 2018 travel ban on people entering the US from majority-Muslim countries. 鈥淭he United States of America is a Nation built upon the promise of religious liberty,鈥� they wrote. “Our Founders honored that core promise by embedding the principle of religious neutrality in the First Amendment. The Court鈥檚 decision today fails to safeguard that fundamental principle.鈥�
Ginsburg had a powerful鈥攁nd official鈥攑latform for delivering her dissents, to be sure, but for those of us who aren鈥檛 Supreme Court justices, dissent comes in many other forms. Speaking truth to power on social media, acts of civil disobedience, and phoning congressional representatives to voice opposition to legislation are all examples of voicing dissent.
Dissent can happen outside of governmental politics too. You might dissent, for example, to a new policy enacted by an employer or a local school board. You might be the dissenting voice to an opinion held by the rest of the people in a class, group, or team you’re a part of.
Is dissent the same as protest?
Protest is closely related to听dissent but they are different. A听protest is “an expression or declaration of objection, disapproval, or dissent, often in opposition to something a person is powerless to prevent or avoid.”
See how familiar you are with the difference between two of the most common forms of protest: boycotts and strikes.
Attested both as a noun and verb in English in the 15th century,听protest, via French, comes from the Latin听protestari, literally “to testify (testari) before (pro–).” The root is听testis, “a witness”鈥攁nd yes, the word testicle is related.
While dissent also means that you stand in opposition to something, protesting听takes even more action. For example, you may dissent to an unfair new policy at work by writing a letter to your employer about your objections, and, after they refuse to make allowances, you might decide to resign in protest.
Many of the largest protests in US history have been in the form of marches, like the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963, when Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his iconic I Have A Dream speech. The 2017 Woman’s March on Washington (and around the US and whole world) after the election of Donald Trump has been considered the largest single-day protest in US history.
On January 21, 2017, we organized the largest single-day protest in US history. We came together as women, femmes, and allies to speak out, and we set the stage for the resistance movement that continues today.
YOU did this. YOU made this happen.
馃抠
— Women's March (@womensmarch)
Protests happen at the local level as well, such as the听Los Angeles teachers strike in January 2019. In all of these instances, dissenting parties organized protests in the forms of demonstrations and rallies to reject existing policies and practices.听
What is the opposite of dissent?
It might seem like the opposite of dissent is听consent, but that鈥檚 not technically the case. It’s听assent, or “to agree or concur, give in, yield, or concede.” To听consent to something, you听“permit or approve of what is happening.” Their overall sense, though, overlaps.
So do their origins. Like听dissent,听assent and consent听are rooted in the verb听sentire, “to feel or think.” (This is related to many other English words, like sense听and sentence.) To听sentire, Latin added the prefix听dis- to make听dissent,听con– (“with, together”) for consent, and a form of ad-听(“to, towards”) for assent.
Both assent and consent听are founded on an underlying idea of agreement, and their differences are subtle but significant. Assent often implies voicing formal agreement, just like听dissent voices formal disagreement. Consent, meanwhile, tends to suggest “letting something happen.”听Consent frequently comes up in the realm of sexual relations, as we’ve especially learned from the Me Too Movement taking off in October 2017. Powerful people, such as听Harvey Weinstein or Louis C.K., have reportedly taken the absence of dissent听(not saying “no”) as听consent (saying “yes”) to sexual activity.听However,听consent requires full and freely given agreement to sexual activity from all parties鈥攁nd can be withdrawn at any time.
WATCH: #MeToo And Other Hashtags That Inspired A Movement
The Me Too Movement has not only taught us about consent, but also about dissent and protest, as we鈥檝e witnessed thousands of women refuse to remain silent about sexual assault and show up to听protest the industries 补苍诲听businesses that have enabled abusers.
If you鈥檝e been sexually harassed or assaulted write 鈥榤e too鈥� as a reply to this tweet.
— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano)
Dissenting and protesting often take years to achieve their goals. There’s no guarantee that just because a group speaks out or organizes a march a change will immediately occur.
And, while they may take time, dissenting and protesting are essential ways in our democracy for us to speak truth to鈥攁nd push back against鈥� power.
Make enough of an uproar with your vociferous protests and sharp dissents and you’re on your way toward a reputation as notorious as the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg. In that case, it would be best to know the difference between notorious and infamous.听
