File spoon-archives/lyotard.archive/lyotard_2004/lyotard.0403, message 11


From: steve.devos-AT-krokodile.co.uk
Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2004 18:00:05 -0000 (GMT)
Subject: actually existing democracy...


Eric

One of the social/political discussions I’ve been engaged in recently
reminds me of  certain discussions of Lyotard. When I was younger, a lot
younger, it was common practice for leftists to refer to the eastern block
countries as ‘actually existing socialism’ referring, if you knew the
discourse  to the more unpleasant aspects of the despotic regimes. In a very
real sense it was simply easier to enclose the entire unpleasantness in the
phrase ‘actually existing socialism’ rather than having to engage endlessly
in a discussion  about over known facts. This was generally irrelevant until
recently because as the counter-reformation becomes increasingly fragile and
various forms of leftist critique reemerge into the daylight  the phrase is
re-emerging. (Zizek for example). As a traditional anti-democratic leftist
it has been occurring to me, as a direct result of the arguments that have
been taking place (recently) that what we could, perhaps should now be
saying is that: “ we have an extreme distrust of
‘actually-existing-democracy’ rather than democracy itself”. The argument is
straightforward – now that ‘actually-existing-democracy’ is building
concentration camps on its ‘home soil’, on site rather than as was
traditional overseas and out of sight. This was more usual socio-historical
tendency during the past 150 years, but it begins to seem that the word
‘democracy’ may be increasingly separable from the structures of our
societies. What would be involved in calling the current democracies a more
appropriate ‘actually-existing-democracy’  is an interesting and possible
useful change in symbolic naming.  It has the obvious advantage that it
releases the dirty word democracy from the actuality of it’s murderous
history…. But more than this sets the sights precisely on the necessary
restructuring to prevent unpleasant new histories emerging…

steve




   

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