COVID and the Era of Emergencies

Abstract

The threat of emergency measures introduced in face of COVID-19 has largely been framed in terms of individual rights. We argue that it is not the protection of the sovereign individual that is most at stake, but the relations between political subjects and the institutions that enable their robust political participation. Drawing on Hannah Arendt’s analysis of the ways in which isolation and the incapacity to discern truth or reality condition totalitarianism and are exacerbated by it, we argue that the dangers for the evacuation of democratic politics are stark in our era. We consider contemporary political action in concert in Germany to illustrate this critique of COVID-19 emergency measures. Drawing on the legal concept of “appropriateness,” we explicate how the German critical response to the shutdown is founded on a concern for democratic principles and institutions, and aims to achieve two crucial goals: governmental transparency and social-political solidarity.

The Risks of the Mask

“…And, who balances between human rights, widely defined, and state authorities' managerial role in exercising control over its territory and citizens? (Celermajer and Nassar 2020). Such questioning can of course contribute to a more transparent debate in European countries over issues of civil rights and social solidarity, but they also imply a measure of distrust in governance that could feed conspiracy theories and other anti-establishment posttruth apparatuses.…”

“…The presence of masks exposes the absence of the face, which will therefore necessarily also impact people's ability to evaluate risks in an optimal way (Slovic et al 2004;cf. Renn 2008;Greenhalgh 2020;Celermajer and Nassar 2020).…”

The Resilience of Pandemic Digital Deliberation: An Analysis of Online Synchronous Forums

“…In this context, there are growing calls for public engagement in the governance of pandemic responses and recovery (Aitken et al 2020;Parry, Asenbaum, and Ercan 2020). As Celermajer and Nassar (2020) argue, the pandemic should be a time to strengthen rather than weaken public engagement in policy and political participation. A lack of representation of diverse experiences, voices and knowledge reduces the epistemic capacity of democracy for effective deliberation and collective action (Landemore 2012).…”

Covid-19 and freedom

“…impassioned debates on the justifiability of the taken policy choices and large anti-restriction demonstrations – may actually enlarge the scope of politics in these societies (cf. Celermajer & Nassar, 2020). Such incidences make the breadth of democratic alternatives evident, however weird or non-scientific the protest opinions may occasionally be.…”

“…The question, then, is how we can (further) strengthen our institutional frameworks during these exceptional times, or perhaps even because of them, through civic activities that are based on an idea of ‘us’ and everyone working together (cf. Celermajer & Nassar, 2020; Chernilo, 2021).…”