The Dilemma of 50 years

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DECEMBER2013

THE STATE, DEMOCRACY AND INDIVIDUAL

The Dilemma of 50 years Thepfusalie Theunuo The beginning of the twentieth century has witness imperial retrenchment and decline: the dismantling of those very same colonial empires that had been expanding in the last century and multitude of independent nation-states appeared that replace the power of high imperialism in parts of Africa and Asia and for millions and millions hope was in the air. The nation-states embark upon promising developmental paths and the emergence of the new system of structure that has change the course of the human lives ,exploitation was then replace by economic development and social progress and in order to catch up with the former metropolitan masters, ideologies like socialism for some or neoliberal market for some, was a path towards a structural change . The de-colonized world was portended for a blessed future but such was not the end it simple took on more subtle, insidious and even more potent forms and nation like India still struggle itself in the new imperialist world of west’s power that continue to vex over the globe. Continual exploitation, gender, ethnic, violence, inequality and cultural annihilation to mention a few continue to destroy the very essence of democracy. The conscience of nation building ignore the core that itself continue to popularised and the process of Democratization continue to corrupt the institution that it thrive to promote. In search of a concrete ideals and serious engagement of analytic episteme knowledge discourse can be the way out within such domination. in context of, emergence of the new order which was unimaginably divisive that isolate community within the framework of unity which then triggered a complex phenomena that challenge the conscious of every human intellect to drain itself and the search for knowledge either remains the purpose of the few or none or the Nation state itself drawn in propaganda of a few that would continue until a single being realised the existing hegemony. How far then such struggle for uncertainty to pursue? How far greed and narcissism would rationalized itself? How far would we remain ignorant and deny the truth? Half a century is not a matter to take for granted and it is not a period to retrospect for a community that is homogeneous but how to accommodate itself in the world civilization should be the prior concern; it is certainly also not a time to celebrate of what has been done. But a time to analyse what it means to be Modern, and what it takes to be a fully democratic society. For many, Naga history is a unique history which remains either absurd or abstract, for every human society has a historical progress of its own and is likely to move from a simple to a more complex structure depending on the elements that it contained within itself. The present reality is partly inbuilt and partly influence but totality of itself depends on what one consider to be beneficial for its progress. One cannot ignore the fact of transition in socio-politico- economic development but one cannot also overlook the process of such historical transformation. If we were to be part of the project of modernity then knowledge of society has to be re-drawn and re-thought. Amidst the emergence of protest and movements and the dialectic of rationality and irrationality of thought and action have to

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be discursively situated at the boarder realm of delicate culture, social, historical and political nuances and the subtleties of the contextin- question. Henceforward, it is necessary to juxtapose the European absolutism to the formation of democracy trickle down to the individual level. The European absolutist state that spanned from the middle of 17th century to the 19th centuries which implies enormous power and authority at the macro-meso- and micro-levels of societal sphere . The attainment of such absolutism through monarchic discipline was indispensable in the creation of modern state authority and the most notable achievement of the absolutist state which proved to be the seeds of early modern European state or the zeitgeist that govern the social context at that time and various institutions (via, education, religion, bureaucracy and the police ) for generation of such zeitgeist, that allow the successful evolution of the modern state without intractable heap of difficulties. Such monarchic discipline was not based alone the realm of authority but at all levels in institution that leads to its glorification , form the church to the unit of family from education to military, polity to community, social manners to even speech and to the various levels of social hierarchy and the level beyond the Nation-state. Referring to the broadest manifestations of Social discipline that produce the overwhelming value of spiritual, moral and psychological changes in Individual and further internalized this very spirit and passed on transgenerationally which for centuries continue to be a vibrant force for such absolutism and largely remains a uniform European phenomena. But in as much as in absolutism it is also crucial for establishing a vibrant democracy and the struggling liberal democracies. So how does one fit such notion of

discipline in our democratic state? How does one go about? It is certainly irrational and impossible to create a European phenomena of absolutism in the modern nation state. Revisiting the statement how do we conceptualised our self as modern and truly democratic? To begin at least at the prima facie level is the freedom the most important prerequisite in democracy but not the only means to established a truly democratic state. As Oestreich puts ‘Yet, beside freedom, democracy presupposes discipline on the part of the citizen, a discipline which serves the common good.’ So what does it actually mean to be a ‘disciplined’ individual in a democratic context? What does it refer to when we say that a society is democratic? One is ‘disciplined’ when a human person is defined to be a member of sociopolitical community, fully understands and internalizes the normative standardization practices in behavior that are considered to be generally accepted by any given community in which such person is a member of. More importantly it also means restraint-veering away from all that may be considered restraining by any ‘modern’ society or community, or staying away from executing any act that may be generally apprehended as ‘un-modern’. And hence democracy may only flourish with ‘self-disciplined’ political citizens and with certain notion of rationality. Critically and in its most self evident terms. ‘Social discipline’ is a necessary but not the sufficient condition for a fully democratic polity. First, ‘discipline’ at the individual level, requires a strong sense of ‘demos’; wherein the human self is always define in the community. Second, most democracy would have a conception of societycentric as its foundational genesis which may result to reducing individual as a mere object of

discipline, a mere object of values and a mere object of institutional instruments for power and there are high tendencies that the entirety of citizenry may fall into high propensity of irrationality or even worst and towards utterly misplace selfishness as Tocqueville calls ‘tyranny of the majority ‘ where justice is the end of government. It is the end of civil society. It ever has been, and ever will be pursued until it be obtained, or until liberty be lost in the pursued. Arguably, in the short term, the imposition of discipline may have despicable effects on human emotion and may undermine a certain sense of individuality. Nevertheless, in the long term, the imposition of discipline can create a responsive and a thoughtful critic that would provide for the public good and social knowledge and further the development of a truly democratic society. thereby, such discipline should not only directed by the state in conquering and restraining the irrationalities of human behaviour but also geared towards making the external natural environment in concurrence with human society towards civilizational development. In other words social discipline is also about a matter of self empowerment, to be conscious, to be productive , to be informed and to be critical and indeed it is not too late to discipline ourselves to re-appraise various alternative discourse in building our modern state. By such discipline one also cultivate the value and the ability to change for the good for it is not the only institutions that provide the public good but individual itself is responsible for an absolute development. So then, what future and to what goals do we orient ourselves? To What frontiers to we need to explore? What knowledge do we need to impart? All this doubt can be critically answered when we begin to discipline ourselves, discipline the knowledge of our world and ‘communalization of the self’.

“Reflection from Yesterdays: The Nagas”

Charcoal Art Photos by Moba Inggang

Moba has a Home Based Studio called “Lost n’ Found Art Studio.” His artwork draws inspiration from Naga culture. The name “Lost n’ Found “ is an efforts to propagate people’s interest into Naga rich culture which is fast vanishing due to over influence of modernization.

Opinion is a theme-based supplement published on the third Saturday of every month. Here you are the artist, the writer, the photographer, the storyteller and the creator of your own opinion. The articles do not reflect the position of the newspaper.

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The Dilemma of 50 years by The Morung Express - Issuu