Unsovereign democracy: why imagination matters in modern politics (and makes religion still relevant) (Democracia no soberana: por qué la imaginación importa en la política moderna (y hace que la religión siga siendo relevante)

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Paolo Costa

Resumen

El ensayo articula la idea de que la crisis actual de las democracias liberales es también un problema de escasa imaginación política, que puede beneficiarse de los recursos de la imaginación religiosa, en particular del imaginario teológico cristiano. Si hay una verdad que emerge de la larga historia de los regímenes democráticos es que una democracia sana no puede sobrevivir mucho tiempo sin el empoderamiento de los ciudadanos. Dicho de otro modo, precisamente porque la democracia es una forma exigente de autogobierno, los ciudadanos democráticos deben ser fortalecidos periódicamente en su creencia de que tienen una influencia en la dirección de sus vidas. Famosamente, la movilización de masas y las protestas son algunas de las formas más eficaces de arraigar en el corazón y la mente de la gente este sentimiento de capacitación ciudadana. Esto ha llevado a algunos pensadores a subrayar el papel de la política contestataria en esa «mise en forme de la société» (C. Lefort), que es en definitiva de lo que trata la democracia. La protesta, sin embargo, necesita canales y salidas político-institucionales para no perder su empuje. Y necesita también un imaginario social coherente capaz de alimentar las prácticas sutiles del autogobierno. ¿Qué ocurre, entonces, cuando sus defensores encuentran su principal fuente de motivación y compromiso en el rechazo de la política o en el problemático encanto de un yo soberano? ¿Qué consecuencias tiene este doble vínculo tan característico? ¿Y qué nos dice sobre el futuro de la democracia? Precisamente porque descubrir una forma eficaz de autogobierno democrático en las sociedades modernas hiperdiversas es difícil y embarcarse en su actualización es una empresa arriesgada, casi utópica, tiene sentido preguntarse si puede haber un solapamiento entre la imaginación política democrática y la imaginación religiosa en este campo. Más concretamente, la cuestión subyacente es si el imaginario teológico cristiano puede reforzar la confianza de las personas en el crecimiento ético humano y en su profundo potencial transformador más allá del modelo de democracia contestataria como forma igualitaria y empoderadora de autogobierno.

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Costa, P. (2024). Unsovereign democracy: why imagination matters in modern politics (and makes religion still relevant): (Democracia no soberana: por qué la imaginación importa en la política moderna (y hace que la religión siga siendo relevante). Cauriensia. Revista Anual De Ciencias Eclesiásticas, 19, 969–994. https://doi.org/10.17398/2340-4256.19.969
Sección
Estudios Monográfico 2
Biografía del autor/a

Paolo Costa, Centro de Estudios Religiosos; Fundación Bruno Kessler (FBK)

 Senior Researcher en Filosofía

Citas

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