Dominance, Power and Solidarity - Repoliticizing communicative power

• Applicant: Dr. Sybille de la Rosa
• Subject Area: Political Science ; Practical Philosophy
• Term: Funded in 2016
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 312783968

Drawing on empirical analyses of the Zapatistas movement in Mexico, Global Justice Movements and the Indignados in Spain, I want to show that these movements can be understood as an answer to present forms of dominance as they are described for example by Habermas in his deliberations on the colonization of the life world, but also by Wendy Brown when they describe the so called neoliberal forms of domination. But to grasp the interplay of forms of domination and power an adequate conceptualization of forms of domination and forms of power is required. Therefore the goal of my work is to develop a concept of the political that does justice to the potential of conflict in social relations by drawing on conflictive approaches of power and its instrumental understanding of power relations but at the same time does not lose sight of those forms of power that are generated through acts of solidarity and respect. To this end I will combine Laclau/Mouffes as well as Arendts and Habermas concepts on power and dominance. The conceptual considerations then will suggest that modern democracies are to be protected against depolitizicing and totalizing processes because their stabilization was realized at the expense of participatory practices. Therefore it is important to comprehend forms of counter-power such as developed by the Global Justice Movements and the Zapatistas movement as forms of participation and revitalization of democratic aspects which have to be included strongly into the democratic practices of modern democracies. The methodology I am drawing on is James Tullys political philosophy as a critical activity that examines contemporary practices of governance that are considered repressive by citizens. The project aims at leading towards a revival of the German debates on power and dominance and to advance the analyses of new social movements.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: United Kingdom
• Hosts: Professor Dr. Bob Brecher; Professor Dr. Mark Devenney