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Project

The insurgent core of democracy: Rethinking democratic conflict in a context of market imperatives

 What makes a political conflict democratic? According to Claude Lefort, a democratic society makes conflict visible and legitimate on the political stage. From an institutional perspective, this leads to proposals for a play of majority and opposition in a parliament. This perspective occludes, however, that socio-economic conditions can affect the structure and democratic quality of political conflict. The symmetry and fairness of a political conflict can be subverted by what Balibar terms the ‘heteronomous’ conditions of politics. This became apparent during the recent financial crisis, when financial market pressures subverted the symmetrical conflict between the political visions of fiscal expansion and fiscal retrenchment (i.e. austerity) in favour of the latter. From a democratic standpoint, it is therefore crucial to grasp how heteronomous conditions can alter the structure of political conflict by making it asymmetrical: even though the conflict seems democratic from a symbolic perspective, the heteronomous conditions can dominate its outcome. How, under such asymmetrical conditions, can the conflict nevertheless gain a democratic character? This project develops a broader notion of democratic conflict via Balibar’s concept of ‘insurgency’. It theorises insurgency as an asymmetrical form of democratic action that continually (re-)politicises the heteronomous conditions that impede the capacity for collective autonomy on the basis of equality and liberty.
 

Date:1 Nov 2019 →  1 Nov 2023
Keywords:Political philosophy, democracy, political conflict, market pressures, insurgency, domination, Balibar
Disciplines:Continental philosophy, Social and political philosophy
Project type:PhD project