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
Display software: ArchTracker © Malgosia Askanas, 2000-2005