New Crises: Science, Morality, and Democracy in the 21st Century ; Nove krize: nauka, moral i demokratija u 21. veku

Abstract

This paper examines the restructuring of political conflict in Western societies in the 21st century, as well as its effects on morality, science, and democracy. I argue that the traditional socio-economic dimension of conflict has been intersected by a new dimension of cultural conflict between the cosmopolitan and the communitarian camps. In this paper, I identify three new crises which are responsible for this two-dimensional conflict structure: the refugee and migrant crisis, the climate debate, and the COVID-19 pandemic. I argue that these crises are not based in "objective" facts alone, but that they are also shaped by their subjective perceptions or "crisis narratives". The paper shows that these narratives are characterized by three distinct properties: scientification, moralization, and polarization. Scientification entails the simplified perception of both science and democratic decision-making. By reducing the role of science to a singular procedure which produces non-refutable "truths", scientification has led to a change in the perception of democracy from a pluralistic and a posteriori decision-making to the means of implementing a priori scientific truth. The second characteristic of crisis narratives is moralization; that is, the stylization of one's own moral position as superior in order to disparage another moral position which introduces binarism and friend-foe relations in the political discourse of democracy. Finally, I demonstrate how these properties undermine democratic pluralism by leading it into a two-dimensional (or, in the case of the United States, one-dimensional), non-negotiable and "all or nothing" polarization. ; Ovaj članak istražuje restrukturiranje političkog konflikta u zapadnim društvima u 21. veku, kao i efekte koje je ono imalo na moralnost, nauku i demokratiju. Pokazujem da je tradicionalno socio-ekonomska dimenzija konflikta postala ispresecana novom dimenzijom kulturnog konflikta između kosmopolitskog i komunitarnog kampa. U radu identifikujem tri nove krize koje su odgovorne za ovu dvodimenzionalnu strukturu konflikta: izbeglička i migrantska kriza, debata o klimatskim promenama i COVID-19 pandemija. U tekstu pokazujem da ove krize nisu zasnovane samo na "činjenicama", već takođe i na subjektivnim percepcijama krize ili "naracijama krize". Ove naracije poseduju tri različite osobine: scijentizacija, moralizacija i polarizacija. Scijentizacija podrazumeva simplifikovanu percepciju nauke i demokratskog procesa odlučivanja. Ona redukuje ulogu nauke na singularnu proceduru koja proizvodi neupitnu "istinu" i time menja sliku demokratije od pluralističkog i a posteriori procesa donošenja odluka u sredstvo primenjivanja a priori naučne istine. Druga osobina naracija krize je moralizacija, odnosno stilizacija sopstvene moralne pozicije kao superiorne u odnosu na drugu, čime se unosi binarizam i prijatelj-neprijatelj odnos u politički diskurs demokratije. Najzad, demonstriram kako ove osobine podrivaju demokratski pluralizam time što ga vode u dvodimenzionalnu (ili u slučaju Sredinjenih Država, jednodimenzionalnu), bezkompromisnu i "sve ili ništa" polarizaciju.