A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established political or religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since 18th century, and in the political sense since 1940, coinciding with the rise of totalitarian systems, especially the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, and Saudi Arabia. In the Western World there are historical examples of people who have been considered and have considered themselves dissidents, such as the Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza. In totalitarian regimes, dissidents are often incarcerated without explicit political accusations, or due to infringements of the very same laws they were disputing, or because they are supporting progressive rights such as the free speech right.
