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Abstract

The pandemic has represented the return of ‘large-scale death’ on the public scene of the world. This essay analyzes the nexus between fear, society, and politics in general terms and, more specifically, in the time of pandemics. The fear of self-dispossession is identified as a feature common to contemporary societies. The COVID-19 crisis has emphasized this fear and has limited the opportunities for enjoying personal liberties and rights. Within this context, the essay maintains that an important role can be played by a vigorous re-proposal of the principle of ‘self-belonging’, understood as, on the one hand, the aspiration that one’s dignity be respected, and, on the other, that the irreducibility and inviolability of the Self be recognized. This principle can serve as the foundation for not only an existential perspective of the liberty and relationality of the individual, but also a vision of society based upon respect for basic universal rights and a democratic practice which extends from the local to the global level. The principle of self-belonging is seen as an alternative to the authoritarian and paternalistic approaches to the pandemic crisis.

Hardbound ISBN: 978-2-503-59892-5
E-book ISBN: 978-2-503-59893-2
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Fear and Dispossession
https://doi.org/10.1484/M.STPH-EB.5.136413
/content/books/10.1484/M.STPH-EB.5.136413
/content/books/10.1484/M.STPH-EB.5.136413

References

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  2. Agamben, Giorgio, Where Are We Now? The Epidemic as Politics, trans. by Valeria Dani (Washington DC: Rowman & Littlefield, 2021).
  3. Arendt, Hannah, The Origins of Totalitarianism (New York: Meridian Books, 1958).
  4. Ariès, Philippe, Western Attitudes Toward Death: From the Middle Ages to the Present (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 1975).
  5. Bobbio, Norberto, The Age of Rights (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1995).
  6. Esposito, Roberto, Immunitas: The Protection and Negation of Life, trans. by Z. Hanafi (London: Polity Press, 2011).
  7. Foucault, Michel, Il faut défendre la societé. Cours au Collège de France 1975–1976 (Paris: Gallimard, 1997).
  8. Ginsburg, Tom, and Mila Versteeg, ‘The Bound Executive: Emergency Powers During the Pandemic’, International Journal of Constitutional Law, 19, 5 (2021), pp. 1498–1535.
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  9. Gorer, Geoffrey, Death, Grief and Mourning (London: Cresset, 1965).
  10. Habermas, Jürgen, ‘Corona und der Schutz des Lebens. Zur Grundrechtsdebatte in der pandemischen Ausnahmesituation’, Blätter für deutsche und internationale Politik, 9 (2021), pp. 65–78.
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  11. Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich, The Phenomenology of Spirit (1807), trans. by Peter Fuss and John Dobbins (Notre Dame, IN: University Press, 2019).
  12. Jonas, Hans, Das Prinzip Verantwortung. Versuch einer Ethik für technologische Zivilisation (Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp, 1979).
  13. Neumann, Franz, The Democratic and the Authoritarian State (New York: Free Press, 1957).
  14. Pozen, David E., and Kim L. Scheppele, ‘Executive Underreach’, American Journal of International Law, 114, 4, Pandemics and Otherwise (2020), pp. 608–617
  15. Rosanvallon, Pierre, Le bon gouvernment (Paris: Seuil, 2015).
  16. Savarino, Luca, and Paolo Vineis, La salute del mondo: ambiente, società e pandemie (Milano: Feltrinelli, 2021).
  17. Schmitt, Carl, ‘The Age of Neutralizations and Depoliticizations’ (1927), Telos, 96 (1993), pp. 130–42.
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  18. Sloterdijk, Peter, ‘Co-Immunism in the Age of Pandemics In The Age Of Pandemics and Climate Change’, Noema, June 12 (2020), https://www.noemamag.com/co-immunism-an-ethos-for-our-age-of-climate-change/
  19. Spellman, William M., A Brief History of Death (London: Reaction Books, 2014).
  20. Wodak, Ruth, The Politics of Fear: What Right-Wing Populist Discourses Mean (New York: Sage, 2015).
  21. Zuboff, Shoshana, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism. The Fight for the Future at the New Frontier of Power (London: Profile Books, 2019).

References

  1. Adam, David, ‘The Pandemic’s true death toll: millions more than official counts’, Nature, 601 (2022), pp. 312–15.
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Agamben, Giorgio, Where Are We Now? The Epidemic as Politics, trans. by Valeria Dani (Washington DC: Rowman & Littlefield, 2021).
  3. Arendt, Hannah, The Origins of Totalitarianism (New York: Meridian Books, 1958).
  4. Ariès, Philippe, Western Attitudes Toward Death: From the Middle Ages to the Present (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 1975).
  5. Bobbio, Norberto, The Age of Rights (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1995).
  6. Esposito, Roberto, Immunitas: The Protection and Negation of Life, trans. by Z. Hanafi (London: Polity Press, 2011).
  7. Foucault, Michel, Il faut défendre la societé. Cours au Collège de France 1975–1976 (Paris: Gallimard, 1997).
  8. Ginsburg, Tom, and Mila Versteeg, ‘The Bound Executive: Emergency Powers During the Pandemic’, International Journal of Constitutional Law, 19, 5 (2021), pp. 1498–1535.
     [Google Scholar]
  9. Gorer, Geoffrey, Death, Grief and Mourning (London: Cresset, 1965).
  10. Habermas, Jürgen, ‘Corona und der Schutz des Lebens. Zur Grundrechtsdebatte in der pandemischen Ausnahmesituation’, Blätter für deutsche und internationale Politik, 9 (2021), pp. 65–78.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich, The Phenomenology of Spirit (1807), trans. by Peter Fuss and John Dobbins (Notre Dame, IN: University Press, 2019).
  12. Jonas, Hans, Das Prinzip Verantwortung. Versuch einer Ethik für technologische Zivilisation (Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp, 1979).
  13. Neumann, Franz, The Democratic and the Authoritarian State (New York: Free Press, 1957).
  14. Pozen, David E., and Kim L. Scheppele, ‘Executive Underreach’, American Journal of International Law, 114, 4, Pandemics and Otherwise (2020), pp. 608–617
  15. Rosanvallon, Pierre, Le bon gouvernment (Paris: Seuil, 2015).
  16. Savarino, Luca, and Paolo Vineis, La salute del mondo: ambiente, società e pandemie (Milano: Feltrinelli, 2021).
  17. Schmitt, Carl, ‘The Age of Neutralizations and Depoliticizations’ (1927), Telos, 96 (1993), pp. 130–42.
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Sloterdijk, Peter, ‘Co-Immunism in the Age of Pandemics In The Age Of Pandemics and Climate Change’, Noema, June 12 (2020), https://www.noemamag.com/co-immunism-an-ethos-for-our-age-of-climate-change/
  19. Spellman, William M., A Brief History of Death (London: Reaction Books, 2014).
  20. Wodak, Ruth, The Politics of Fear: What Right-Wing Populist Discourses Mean (New York: Sage, 2015).
  21. Zuboff, Shoshana, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism. The Fight for the Future at the New Frontier of Power (London: Profile Books, 2019).

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