Are (neo)liberal societies "depoliticised" and "consumerist"? Some thoughts about Chile, democracy and politics
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The following article was originally written in Swedish via Dagens Demokrati (Today’s Democracy)
A common problem with interpretations of the terms democracy and politics is that democracy is reduced to elections and representation through elected parliaments. While politics is mainly seen as debates and negotiations between political parties.
Democracy is a method for interpersonal decisions and agreements through conversational and informal processes also works without standing representation, as in the case of associations, companies, and forums. While politics as spontaneous and planned interpersonal conflicts also occur outside of political parties.
Such discussions and understandings are important when it comes to debates and analysis of the development of Chile regarding democracy, politics and constitutionalism during 2019-2022. Partly because different left-wing and progressive organizations see Chile as a neo-liberal state and society.
Today, no country is entirely neoliberal because the public sector is very small and limited to functions such as police and military, and where markets are less regulated and more globalized. Not even Chile, which since the 1970s has been an example of discussions concerning socialism and neoliberalism and the roles of private and public institutions, has escaped this development for various reasons.
Even if Chile, at least theoretically and through thought experiments, had been a completely neoliberal system, such a system would not automatically have been undemocratic or "depoliticized." Democratic and political processes would still have existed as people in everyday conversations, initiatives, and engagements devoted themselves to dealing with local and global problems, risks, and challenges.
Similar development and practice would also have existed, for example, in entirely anarcho-socialist or ecological/green social models where the state has no or very limited function. Basically, it does not matter which ideas are influencing peoples’ “hearts and minds” since humans have different problems and challenges in everyday life.
Every society is also affected by overarching global developments concerning how people create technology, affect the climate, and develop new social behaviors. Practical and complex problems re-emerge and must be managed in both democracies and dictatorships. Everything from issues concerning parking spaces and parks to climate change and education must be discussed and dealt with by people in one way or another.
A problem that many, primarily left-wing critics of neoliberalism, miss is that excessive trust and unreasonable expectations of political parties and public systems are also bad for democracy. Alternatives to democracy are not only dictatorship with a single political party or dictator ruling the entire country but also exist in the form of populist and arbitrary majority rules. Systems where people think in the style of "better with food and medicine than democracy without food and medicine" but without thinking more deeply about whether such a system is sustainable or effective in the long run.
In modern history, societies like the Soviet Union have been highly politicized because the formal ideology determined everything from games and play to food and drink. Today, societies like Venezuela, Cuba, and China show how badly things can go when a lot becomes "(party) politics' responsibility" At the same time, people are directly or indirectly prevented from engaging in managing various problems and challenges.
In Chile's case, there are several reasons why the constitution from the time of dictatorship needs to be changed. But the solution is not to create a left-wing populist authoritarian rule but for more Chileans to agree through everyday collaborations, conversational processes, and decentralized initiatives with respect for political pluralism and constitutional freedoms.
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