WEBVTT 00:10.200 --> 00:16.870 Professor Dr. Caroline Robertson von Trotha, Professor Baumann, fellow 00:16.870 --> 00:19.370 speakers, ladies and gentlemen. 00:20.450 --> 00:24.110 I'm very happy to be here, even though it's cold in Karlsruhe. 00:25.120 --> 00:31.310 But I'm very happy to be here in this 16th Karlsruher Gespräche about 00:31.310 --> 00:37.890 the topic, Alles in Ordnung, Ordnung, Neue Übersichtlichkeiten in 00:37.890 --> 00:41.430 einer globalisierten Welt. 00:42.250 --> 00:47.750 I think when I received the invitation, the very formulation of the 00:47.750 --> 00:51.890 theme was so attractive that I told myself, I really must come here. 00:52.830 --> 00:57.530 My theme is Democracy Challenged and the Challenge of Democracy. 00:57.530 --> 01:05.230 And before I go to my theme, I wish to tell you that I do think that a 01:05.230 --> 01:12.350 short nap after lunch for about 20 minutes is good for one's health. 01:12.970 --> 01:18.050 Though I can't have it, I'll try my best to offer one to you with my 01:18.050 --> 01:18.390 lecture. 01:19.790 --> 01:21.050 I hope it works. 01:22.430 --> 01:28.190 More seriously, I wish to argue under the title Democracy Challenged 01:28.190 --> 01:33.690 and the Challenge of Democracy that both challenges to democracy 01:33.690 --> 01:40.010 within democratic societies that we see in different parts of the 01:40.010 --> 01:50.940 world, challenges to democracy within democratic societies and the 01:50.940 --> 01:58.180 challenges that democracy provides to non-democratic societies that 01:58.180 --> 02:03.140 also we see in different parts of the world, we need to pay attention 02:03.140 --> 02:03.760 to both. 02:03.940 --> 02:09.840 We need to pay attention to both for analysis and for corrective 02:09.840 --> 02:10.560 action. 02:10.560 --> 02:19.720 Because in this age of openness with all uncertainty, if we want to 02:19.720 --> 02:26.320 find out how we are going to live in this world where the context is 02:26.320 --> 02:33.380 provided by globalization which offers challenges, risks, as well as 02:33.380 --> 02:33.840 opportunities. 02:35.040 --> 02:41.180 Ladies and gentlemen, this is very broadly my theme and I shall like 02:41.180 --> 02:46.220 to develop it in the course of the 22 minutes that I have been given. 02:46.600 --> 02:49.840 I have been told that I'll be shown some colors and I've already 02:49.840 --> 02:56.400 shared with her that I'm color blind so please don't mind if I carry 02:56.400 --> 02:58.600 on after 20 minutes. 02:59.920 --> 03:02.060 I hope I will have your understanding. 03:03.980 --> 03:05.360 Let me start with this. 03:05.500 --> 03:08.380 I live in Calcutta where the weather at the moment is rather nice. 03:08.520 --> 03:14.480 A young man from Berlin, a German fellow, came to Calcutta early 2011 03:14.480 --> 03:17.140 and I'm not making up this story, this indeed happened. 03:17.620 --> 03:23.780 And I felt for many reasons to take him around, to show him around and 03:23.780 --> 03:26.600 I showed him several places in Calcutta. 03:27.120 --> 03:29.640 I showed him, for instance, Fort William. 03:30.320 --> 03:32.460 I showed him a writer's building. 03:32.880 --> 03:37.000 Now for those who may not know, Fort William is the place from where, 03:37.580 --> 03:43.660 so to speak, British colonial empire in Asia or in larger context, was 03:43.660 --> 03:44.140 created. 03:44.820 --> 03:49.340 I showed him writer's building from where the British controlled the 03:49.340 --> 03:54.900 empire and it was the administrative office of the empire and which 03:54.900 --> 03:59.860 now serves, the writer's building, which now serves as the Regierung's 03:59.860 --> 04:05.640 building for the state government of West Bengal. 04:06.360 --> 04:11.740 Neither the gravity of history nor the impressive facade of writer's 04:11.740 --> 04:13.800 building impressed this young German. 04:14.920 --> 04:20.980 And what impressed him indeed were the slogans which were written all 04:20.980 --> 04:26.560 over city on the walls of houses and these were political slogans. 04:27.560 --> 04:32.640 He looked at me and said, Surendra, how very nice to see such great 04:32.640 --> 04:34.720 political engagement in this city. 04:34.720 --> 04:36.600 He was excited about that. 04:37.180 --> 04:42.020 Now, I must tell you, why were there so many slogans on the houses, 04:42.220 --> 04:44.180 political slogans on the houses of Calcutta? 04:44.600 --> 04:50.200 Because West Bengal, Calcutta is the capital of the state called West 04:50.200 --> 04:54.480 Bengal, was getting ready for state assembly elections. 04:55.060 --> 04:58.600 And this election was a very historical event. 04:59.020 --> 05:00.220 I had to explain this to him. 05:00.220 --> 05:05.920 It was a historical event because a government under the name Left 05:05.920 --> 05:11.740 Front Government had ruled Calcutta, West Bengal, for more than 33 05:11.740 --> 05:12.300 years. 05:13.360 --> 05:16.580 I have really no way of knowing why Ripley has not put it on world 05:16.580 --> 05:16.980 record. 05:17.920 --> 05:21.760 And through elections, this Left Front Government dominated by 05:21.760 --> 05:26.160 Communist Party of India, Marxist, had won election after election 05:26.160 --> 05:31.020 after election and stayed in power for more than 33 years. 05:31.660 --> 05:36.360 And now this time it was being challenged by a determined woman, women 05:36.360 --> 05:40.120 can be fairly determined as we see from the person who is running this 05:40.120 --> 05:45.780 conference, by a very determined person who was out to throw them out 05:45.780 --> 05:46.180 of the office. 05:46.320 --> 05:46.980 She finally did. 05:47.340 --> 05:47.960 She finally did. 05:47.960 --> 05:54.380 And therefore, you can imagine intensity of political mobilization, 05:54.700 --> 05:59.740 which one saw on the streets of Calcutta, which impressed my German 05:59.740 --> 06:00.260 friend. 06:00.780 --> 06:09.780 Now, what I want to say is that this situation of Left Front ruling 06:09.780 --> 06:14.060 West Bengal for so long, has to be understood not in the context of 06:14.060 --> 06:18.280 economic development that took place in West Bengal, but on the 06:18.280 --> 06:23.780 contrary, the state of West Bengal underwent massive decline during 06:23.780 --> 06:25.520 the rule of 33 years. 06:26.060 --> 06:30.960 Then why did they hold on to power for so long, which was a question 06:30.960 --> 06:34.160 for political analysis, in which several political scientists, 06:34.580 --> 06:36.800 including myself, took part to understand. 06:37.340 --> 06:42.240 And the conclusion to which we came was they could rule so long, 06:42.240 --> 06:48.620 because politics in the factional sense had infuted through the party 06:48.620 --> 06:56.660 into all spheres of life, leaving no sphere untouched, including 06:56.660 --> 06:58.600 economic and social. 06:59.380 --> 07:04.220 And because there was a party machinery at work, the encroachment 07:04.220 --> 07:10.540 meant the party could control the behavior of the people, including 07:10.540 --> 07:15.800 the political behavior, which meant they could go and vote for it. 07:16.220 --> 07:18.380 Now, why did they lose power? 07:18.920 --> 07:23.920 Because the determined woman that I talked about, she exposed this and 07:23.920 --> 07:28.160 also exposed some of the mistakes this government made during the last 07:28.160 --> 07:30.700 months, in which I don't need to go. 07:30.700 --> 07:37.140 Now, the point I'm making is the intrusion of politics through a 07:37.140 --> 07:41.700 situation where democracy prevails through electoral politics had 07:41.700 --> 07:42.960 perversive effects. 07:44.540 --> 07:51.680 And those of you who are in Germany are well aware of the apparatus of 07:51.680 --> 07:55.700 a party that worked in DDR and Eastern Europe. 07:55.700 --> 08:00.180 You are familiar with this, though of course the former chief minister 08:00.180 --> 08:04.820 left front had said once when there were problems in Eastern Europe, 08:05.180 --> 08:07.800 why are these people worried about elections? 08:08.220 --> 08:10.260 One can stay in power even with elections. 08:11.180 --> 08:18.180 Now, I would leave the subject there and try to argue that kindly 08:18.180 --> 08:22.600 shift your focus from West Bengal and my German friend and think of 08:22.600 --> 08:28.020 the situation in this part of the world or in more affluent societies 08:28.020 --> 08:30.060 like North America and so on. 08:30.580 --> 08:36.160 The withdrawal from politics is another factor that has to be taken 08:36.160 --> 08:36.760 into account. 08:37.260 --> 08:41.440 Namely, on the one hand, intrusion of politics, on the other, 08:41.900 --> 08:42.240 withdrawal. 08:42.240 --> 08:47.000 Charles Meyer has written an article recently under the title, 08:47.420 --> 08:52.500 Democracy and its Discontents, using data from multiple sources in 08:52.500 --> 08:58.980 which he has highlighted that the manner in which disgust with 08:58.980 --> 09:04.700 politics and political leadership has meant withdrawal on the part of 09:04.700 --> 09:06.880 citizens in different parts of the world. 09:06.880 --> 09:12.200 And the data may differ, but withdrawal from politics in democratic 09:12.200 --> 09:18.900 societies, he calls it civil or even moral crisis. 09:19.740 --> 09:25.460 Now, if that is the case, I ask myself whether in West Bengal or in 09:25.460 --> 09:31.080 other parts of the world, whether intrusion or withdrawal, where is 09:31.080 --> 09:34.520 the sense of politics in the Western thought? 09:35.640 --> 09:41.940 Let us say in the writing of the Greek minds. 09:43.240 --> 09:47.160 Originally, polis or civitas related to citizens. 09:47.980 --> 09:52.860 Governance of the community was important for Plato as well as 09:52.860 --> 09:53.320 Aristotle. 09:53.320 --> 09:59.660 In politics, Aristotle sees politics in the concern for perfecting man 09:59.660 --> 10:01.760 through law and justice. 10:02.300 --> 10:08.280 Man cannot live in isolation, argues Aristotle, but man separated from 10:08.280 --> 10:13.340 law and justice is the worst of animals. 10:14.140 --> 10:18.380 And you can't fault Aristotle on at least deductive logic, and 10:18.380 --> 10:21.780 therefore the argument that you cannot live in isolation, you must 10:21.780 --> 10:25.220 live together, and in order to live together, you must have justice 10:25.220 --> 10:29.980 and you must have law was important for him, and the administration of 10:29.980 --> 10:32.160 city -state was important for him. 10:32.160 --> 10:37.720 Devaluation of politics, when it has lost its original meaning of 10:37.720 --> 10:43.260 perfecting man by virtue of social living, thinking in terms of 10:43.260 --> 10:48.120 perfecting state, devaluation is a challenge to democratic societies 10:48.120 --> 10:49.160 all over the world. 10:49.620 --> 10:54.480 The democratic promise, after all, is not good life just for some, but 10:54.480 --> 10:55.000 for all. 10:55.000 --> 10:59.680 And I would argue not only this devaluation of the original sense of 10:59.680 --> 11:05.140 politics, but what has happened is principle of equality stands 11:05.140 --> 11:06.040 compromised. 11:06.960 --> 11:11.680 Income inequalities are rising across and within nations, and there is 11:11.680 --> 11:15.680 no clear indication, I can go into data, that democratic societies are 11:15.680 --> 11:18.640 doing better in this respect than non-democratic society. 11:18.640 --> 11:23.840 Paul Krugman has written a certain article that we are 99% is fine, 11:24.380 --> 11:30.900 but indeed we are 99.9% because much of the benefit has gone not to 11:30.900 --> 11:36.400 1%, but 0.1%, and these are the people who are not like Steve Jobs, 11:36.840 --> 11:41.100 who are innovators, but these are the people who are corporate bigwigs 11:41.100 --> 11:43.860 and financial wheeler-dealers. 11:43.860 --> 11:49.040 Principle of liberty, ladies and gentlemen, also stands compromised. 11:49.880 --> 11:54.700 Unrestrained concentration of wealth among nations compromises the 11:54.700 --> 11:59.280 liberty of those who are on the receiving end, whether as nations or 11:59.280 --> 11:59.960 individuals. 11:59.960 --> 12:05.600 Marcuse had said in One Dimensional Man, people recognize themselves 12:05.600 --> 12:11.420 in commodities, and when the commodities are denied, one feels denied 12:11.420 --> 12:14.340 of even a human recognition. 12:15.200 --> 12:20.460 Another token of progress is the manner in which privacy of 12:20.460 --> 12:22.640 individuals has been compromised. 12:23.240 --> 12:25.380 Think in terms of what happened in England. 12:25.900 --> 12:31.380 Rupert Murdoch's empire, representing the free press, which is 12:31.380 --> 12:38.380 supposed to promote liberty in democratic society, showed intrusion, 12:38.920 --> 12:45.140 and not just intrusion, intimidation by press in the most horrible 12:45.140 --> 12:46.480 possible manner. 12:46.480 --> 12:52.240 So, devaluation of politics, compromised principles of equality and 12:52.240 --> 12:58.420 liberty have no wonder created disillusionment and solace in private 12:58.420 --> 13:03.840 world, which gets reflected in a country which is poor, in struggle 13:03.840 --> 13:09.800 for survival, in a country which is affluent, in craving for more and 13:09.800 --> 13:11.160 more and more. 13:11.160 --> 13:18.220 Now, not backing away, while Charles Meyer had said, is taking place 13:18.220 --> 13:18.880 every time. 13:19.420 --> 13:21.560 Think in terms of protests that are taking place. 13:22.040 --> 13:27.000 Think in terms of Berlusconi, who was forced to leave with cheers, 13:27.820 --> 13:34.080 jeers, and the joyous chorus of Hallelujah from Handel's Messiah. 13:35.840 --> 13:41.940 And, indeed, what the people on Wall Street, or what people in Rome 13:41.940 --> 13:45.240 are asking is not a revolutionary change. 13:45.660 --> 13:51.140 What they are asking is a dignified life where employment is assured, 13:51.480 --> 13:56.440 or at least available, and a life where one can live with some kind of 13:56.440 --> 13:56.860 dignity. 13:56.860 --> 14:01.200 Now, protesters are protesting in U.S. 14:01.300 --> 14:02.060 and Wall Street. 14:02.580 --> 14:08.040 Protesters are protesting in New Delhi, where, in order to highlight 14:08.040 --> 14:12.320 India may be making progress, as you read in newspapers, but India 14:12.320 --> 14:16.520 happens to be also one of the most corrupt societies which prompted a 14:16.520 --> 14:22.440 Gandhian like Hazare to go on fast in New Delhi against the kind of 14:22.440 --> 14:23.300 regime that we have. 14:23.300 --> 14:30.660 Now, I think I've given you some idea about the compromised status of 14:30.660 --> 14:32.240 democracy in democratic societies. 14:32.860 --> 14:37.260 Now, I think somewhere the problem lies in the manner in which we have 14:37.260 --> 14:38.500 conceptualized politics. 14:38.500 --> 14:40.460 Now, think of Max Weber. 14:40.600 --> 14:41.520 He was mentioned earlier. 14:42.060 --> 14:46.760 Politics als Beruf, in which he talks of politics in the context of 14:46.760 --> 14:51.540 the state, and the state is defined in the context of exclusive use of 14:51.540 --> 14:51.880 force. 14:51.880 --> 14:58.540 Think in terms of Carl Schmitt, their brief, their politician, 1932, 14:59.140 --> 15:03.520 in which he says, defines again, politics in the context of states, 15:04.020 --> 15:09.640 and says the state can define, they can demand the readiness to die 15:09.640 --> 15:15.420 and unhesitant will to kill enemies on the part of citizens. 15:15.420 --> 15:19.920 Now, if this is how you define state, and if this is how you define 15:19.920 --> 15:27.280 politics, no wonder the ancient Greek ideal of finding a way of living 15:27.280 --> 15:31.540 in a community for the common good is completely lost. 15:31.540 --> 15:37.320 No wonder that the normative element from politics has been taken out, 15:37.780 --> 15:44.020 and we talk in terms of only the means, and in the process, we come 15:44.020 --> 15:44.920 back to Aristotle. 15:45.540 --> 15:50.920 Remember what he had said, man can be the worst of animals as he can 15:50.920 --> 15:54.000 use arms for the worst possible ends. 15:54.000 --> 15:58.840 I think our history, our contemporary history, has proved him 15:58.840 --> 16:04.340 absolutely right as far as using arms for the worst possible ends is 16:04.340 --> 16:04.940 concerned. 16:05.280 --> 16:09.720 The other issue of democracy, of course, is widely known, the issue of 16:09.720 --> 16:13.980 representation, what happens if Berlusconi makes an empire for himself 16:13.980 --> 16:15.460 at the cost of the country? 16:15.460 --> 16:20.900 What happens if representatives make use of their position not for the 16:20.900 --> 16:23.300 community or for the citizens, for themselves? 16:24.260 --> 16:29.720 I would argue that yet another problem with democracy today is absence 16:29.720 --> 16:30.480 of ideology. 16:31.480 --> 16:38.320 The neoliberalism of both sides have exhausted themselves. 16:38.700 --> 16:46.020 The neoliberalism has exhausted itself, and we need to really ask 16:46.020 --> 16:51.580 ourselves how exactly are we going to think of democracy as a 16:51.580 --> 16:56.540 situation which is closer to the ideal of finding a society where 16:56.540 --> 17:00.180 individuals can perfect or move towards perfection. 17:00.480 --> 17:08.900 Now, but democracy is posing challenge to, I'm colorblind, democracy 17:08.900 --> 17:12.640 is posing challenge in countries where democracy doesn't exist. 17:13.120 --> 17:18.300 Think in terms of the brave struggle of Souky and Myanmar, think in 17:18.300 --> 17:23.740 terms of Arab uprisings which began in Tunisia with a street vendor 17:23.740 --> 17:28.980 setting himself to fire and who has now become a symbol of dignity. 17:28.980 --> 17:35.360 Think in terms of Tahrir Square where people have come out and Tahrir 17:35.360 --> 17:41.060 Square has given rise to a moment where you ask, are you ready for a 17:41.060 --> 17:42.000 Tahrir Square? 17:42.000 --> 17:48.160 I think these challenges need not also be underestimated, and if that 17:48.160 --> 17:53.880 is the case, and indeed, hardly ever has a group of people gone out on 17:53.880 --> 18:01.160 street and raised slogans for, not for, but against democracy. 18:02.120 --> 18:07.640 So if we want democracy, we at the same time need to recognize there 18:07.640 --> 18:09.220 are flaws in democracy. 18:09.660 --> 18:13.020 And I would like to say this is the moment of reflection. 18:13.680 --> 18:17.740 We need to go back to Tolstoy, if you like. 18:18.580 --> 18:23.400 Tolstoy, whom Max Weber quoted in his famous lecture on politics, had 18:23.400 --> 18:27.420 asked, what shall we do and how shall we live? 18:27.420 --> 18:30.560 I think we need to go back to this question. 18:31.000 --> 18:34.960 With due apologies to Herr Baumann, I personally think when he says 18:34.960 --> 18:39.540 that this question is not so important, who will do it, I would argue 18:39.540 --> 18:43.780 this question is as important as when Tolstoy raised it. 18:44.260 --> 18:46.640 Tolstoy's question is a political question. 18:47.180 --> 18:51.360 It's a political question because it cannot be answered unless we make 18:51.360 --> 18:53.300 right political choices. 18:53.300 --> 18:57.100 It is at the same time a moral question. 18:57.620 --> 19:01.780 It's a moral question because you cannot talk in terms of how shall we 19:01.780 --> 19:06.040 live and what shall we do unless you make moral choices. 19:06.040 --> 19:15.700 And these moral choices are important because not only a country, not 19:15.700 --> 19:21.760 only a group of people, but the entire humanity faces extinction by 19:21.760 --> 19:27.320 the very acts that we have committed on each other and on our planet. 19:27.320 --> 19:30.840 I think this is an area for learning. 19:31.560 --> 19:32.460 I have no time. 19:32.920 --> 19:36.620 Otherwise, I would say that to leave everything to civil society will 19:36.620 --> 19:37.760 also not be right. 19:37.980 --> 19:41.280 Though, of course, I think civil society has a very important role to 19:41.280 --> 19:48.100 play because just as politics encroaching upon the domain of civil as 19:48.100 --> 19:53.000 well as economic is wrong, similarly civil encroaching upon other 19:53.000 --> 19:54.860 domains will also not work. 19:54.860 --> 19:58.540 And in discussion perhaps I can go to the experience of Poland and 19:58.540 --> 20:03.340 solidarity and try to argue with you how putting everything on the 20:03.340 --> 20:05.860 shoulders of civil society is not a good choice. 20:06.380 --> 20:13.180 Now, in making this moral choice, ladies and gentlemen, we need to be 20:13.180 --> 20:13.940 honest to ourselves. 20:13.940 --> 20:20.780 We need to ask ourselves what exactly is it that we want and leave 20:20.780 --> 20:25.000 behind for our children if we are going to leave anything behind for 20:25.000 --> 20:25.200 them. 20:25.420 --> 20:30.100 We need to act with responsibility and this is a moral choice where 20:30.100 --> 20:32.760 both means as well as ends are important. 20:32.760 --> 20:39.280 And if you say in politics means don't work, I would say there was at 20:39.280 --> 20:44.900 least one man who proved it does, Gandhi, who was not being an idle 20:44.900 --> 20:49.940 theoretician but who moved an entire nation and fought against one of 20:49.940 --> 20:55.380 the mightiest empire in the world to prove that means do matter and 20:55.380 --> 20:56.900 means do become effective. 20:56.900 --> 21:04.060 I wish to conclude by observing that democracy is not a finished 21:04.060 --> 21:09.820 product to be exported as sometimes aggressive American foreign policy 21:09.820 --> 21:10.600 seems to believe. 21:11.240 --> 21:19.520 Democracy is to be nurtured like a plant is nurtured by a gardener. 21:19.520 --> 21:28.460 Please allow me to quote from Rumi, the Persian Sufi poet. 21:28.910 --> 21:35.840 How should spring bring forth a garden on hard stone, he asked, 21:36.840 --> 21:45.580 because how should spring bring forth a garden on hard stone become 21:45.580 --> 21:46.080 earth? 21:46.080 --> 21:52.660 You may grow flowers of many colors, for you have been a heart 21:52.660 --> 21:54.260 -breaking rock. 21:54.980 --> 21:59.100 Once, for the sake of experiment, be earth. 21:59.500 --> 22:00.020 Thank you.