TY - JOUR
T1 - Ethics and Affect in Resistance to Democratic Regressions
AU - Wolkenstein, Fabio
PY - 2023/5/1
Y1 - 2023/5/1
N2 - In recent times, it has become increasingly common that elected parties and leaders systematically undermine democracy and the rule of law. This phenomenon is often framed with the term democratic backsliding or democratic regression. This article deals with the relatively little-studied topic of resistance to democratic regressions. Chief amongst the things it discusses is the rather central ethical issue of whether resisters may themselves, in their attempts to prevent a further erosion of democracy, transgress democratic norms. But the argument advanced in the article is not merely about the ethics of resistance. It begins, perhaps unconventionally, by addressing the affective dimension of resistance to democratic regressions, looking in particular at the powerful feelings of anger and despair that pro-democratic citizens living under a regressive government are likely to experience. As the article argues, these feelings have not only motivational but also epistemic potential, which must be adequately theorized in order to understand how resisters can respond to the ethical challenges facing them.
AB - In recent times, it has become increasingly common that elected parties and leaders systematically undermine democracy and the rule of law. This phenomenon is often framed with the term democratic backsliding or democratic regression. This article deals with the relatively little-studied topic of resistance to democratic regressions. Chief amongst the things it discusses is the rather central ethical issue of whether resisters may themselves, in their attempts to prevent a further erosion of democracy, transgress democratic norms. But the argument advanced in the article is not merely about the ethics of resistance. It begins, perhaps unconventionally, by addressing the affective dimension of resistance to democratic regressions, looking in particular at the powerful feelings of anger and despair that pro-democratic citizens living under a regressive government are likely to experience. As the article argues, these feelings have not only motivational but also epistemic potential, which must be adequately theorized in order to understand how resisters can respond to the ethical challenges facing them.
KW - anger
KW - democratic backsliding
KW - democratic regressions
KW - despair
KW - ethics of resistance
KW - resistance
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85162098364&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1515/auk-2023-2008
DO - 10.1515/auk-2023-2008
M3 - Article
SN - 0171-5860
VL - 45
SP - 85
EP - 109
JO - Analyse & Kritik: Zeitschrift für Sozialtheorie
JF - Analyse & Kritik: Zeitschrift für Sozialtheorie
IS - 1
ER -