The Immediacy of Populism and the Unrest of Democracy: A Phenomenological Inquiry into the Public Sphere

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Abstract

This chapter sets out to inquire how one may conceptualize a democratic way of dealing with collective attachments in the public sphere. The argument unfolds in three steps. First, Corrias shows that populism and liberalism present conflicting conceptions of the public sphere. Populism insists that the people can actually coincide with their attachments. The public sphere is understood as a Heimat. Liberalism cleanses the public sphere of attachments and denies the need for roots. The public sphere is seen as a marketplace of ideas. Secondly, he argues that both of these conceptions build upon a flawed understanding of the relationship between a collective subject and its values or strong attachments. Contrary to both liberalism and populism, Corrias, thirdly, presents a view in which democracy’s subject is understood as decentred giving rise to a constitutive unrest. The public sphere is the place to deal with this unrest.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationVox Populi
Subtitle of host publicationPopulism as a Rhetorical and Democratic Challenge
EditorsIngeborg van der Geest, Henrike Jansen, Bart van Klink
Place of PublicationCheltenham
PublisherEdward Elgar Publishers
Chapter10
Pages163-177
Number of pages15
ISBN (Electronic)9781789901412
ISBN (Print)9781789901405
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020

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