Ethics and Affect in Resistance to Democratic Regressions

Veröffentlichungen: Beitrag in FachzeitschriftArtikelPeer Reviewed

Abstract

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.

OriginalspracheEnglisch
Seiten (von - bis)85-109
Seitenumfang25
FachzeitschriftAnalyse & Kritik: Zeitschrift für Sozialtheorie
Jahrgang45
Ausgabenummer1
DOIs
PublikationsstatusVeröffentlicht - 1 Mai 2023

ÖFOS 2012

  • 506013 Politische Theorie

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