From Vulnerability to Predation: Unlearning Democratic Citizenship

• In Event: Populist Movements and Paradoxes of Membership

Abstract

This essay argues that the contemporary threat to a free and democratic nation comes from a political tyranny made possible by reducing citizenship to a condition defined by protection of vulnerability. I argue that citizenship in the United States is being redefined on a dichotomy between vulnerability and predation. On the one had there is a rise in contempt for victims (those who are seen as having “failed” under global capitalism) and the condition of victimhood, and a corresponding celebration of those who have succeeded. This dichotomy between weak and strong intensifies the fear of appearing vulnerable, in turn citizens respond by posturing towards becoming vicious predators. In this context the shared nature of power possible from participating in a democratic community risks becoming erased. By comparing the responses of those accused of sexual assault in the #MeToo movement (and reactions against that movement) with recent studies of authoritarian politics this essay builds out a broader analysis of how political power in contemporary politics relies on defining citizens in terms of in groups and out groups premised on rejecting vulnerability as weakness. In turn, Americans unlearn democracy as concepts of citizenship coalesce around a predatory viciousness in civic life where citizens regard those defined as weak as beneath contempt, while those defined as strong are elevated to a station that undermines the give and take necessary for democratic self-government.

Author

• Jeffrey A. Becker, University of the Pacific