Seminar (CNSC): "Dysfunctional liberal democracy: Bridging crisis through a politics of hype"

Program

Abstract

There is growing skepticism from democratic theory based on empirical insights that liberal democratic countries are increasingly dysfunctional and implausible in delivering on their promises (Blühdorn, 2013; Staab, 2022; Selk, 2023). Parameters on the input side, like equal inclusion and participation in discourse & representation of the demos, or comprehensibility of political processes; and parameters on the output side, like pacification of inequalities through access to wealth, elite control, problem-solving capacity, or environmental protection through sustainability are not working (anymore).

I argue that these unacceptable democratic conditions are bridged with the societal performance of hype in liberal democracies – as “listen to the science” is not feasible politics anymore. For the demos such drastic interventions in their project of self-realization and autonomy are too demanding, too stressful and simply overburdening. Absurdly, the continuous emancipation and individuation processes (Beck 1992) which are constitutive to and normatively demanded by the modernist project of liberal democracy is producing its own crises. The politization of all life spheres from the private to environment, from the body to speech are making democracy’s claims unachievable.

Especially the privileged parts of the demos chose to compensate this unpleasant realization and bridge these obvious tensions through a politics of hype: a social dynamic produced through an emotional staging and circulation of a distinct and laudable - but actually unrealistic and opportunistically exaggerated - future. For example, the politics of hype points to the emotional celebration of technology as an efficient and sustainable future, without really politically changing anything - except for the stock value of some privileged financial strata. Hype celebrates “extreme politization without political consequences” (Jäger 2023). This takes reminiscence of what Guy Debord once described as “society of spectacle” (1967).

This spectacle works with the staging of bold promises, the performance of bullshit (Frankfurt, 2005) as laudable and feasible. As a counter - reaction to the realization of double standards of elites and the dysfunctionality of the liberal system, increasing parts of the demos choose to question or even rage against Western liberal democracy. It remains an open question if liberal democracy will be able to deal with these inherent tensions or degenerate.

Jascha Bareis

Political scientist whose passion lies at the crossroads of questions of normativity, political communication and future studies. Currently, he analyzes and comments on the politics of AI, tech oligarchy, and the field of hype. Other fields of expertise include Technology Assessment, trust and technology, and democratic theory. He is scientific staff at ITAS, research group “Digital Technologies and Societal Change” and associate researcher at the “Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society” (HIIG), research program “The Evolving of Digital Society”.