[Column] The banality of Korea’s ‘democratic fascism’

By Hannes Mosler, professor of Korean politics and society on the College of Duisburg-Essen

Former President Yoon Suk-yeol’s unlawful declaration of martial regulation final Dec. 3 was the apotheosis of the authoritarian type of rule he had constructed beneath the cloak of liberal democracy, in addition to a foregone conclusion. Conspiratorial incitement was manifested in his plan to hold out precise violence, revealing Yoon’s ambitions of wiping out each group that was a thorn in his aspect.

Korea might have prevented the worst, however the occasions that transpired that night time — armored automobiles rumbling on the grounds of the Nationwide Meeting as helicopters hovered above and closely armed troops infiltrated the constructing — offered a terrifying tableau of Korea’s liberal democracy being snuffed out.

Reminiscences of that terror have been rekindled by the latest revelation of closed-circuit digital camera footage from the convention room on the presidential workplace the place Cupboard members gathered on the night of the coup try. Probably the most surprising facet was the calm temper on the assembly — which stood in stark distinction with the trend and resolve of the general public who stuffed the streets that night time and afterward, in addition to the chaos on the Nationwide Meeting as lawmakers battled to elevate the martial regulation order.

The digital camera confirmed Cupboard members one after the other as they entered the convention room, their faces displaying no signal of stress or worry. One stood casually with an arm draped over a chair again, whereas one other ambled inside along with his palms in his pants pockets. They may very well be seen chatting and smiling as they slowly took their seats.

The laid-back temper continued for a while because the members took a number of seats on the head of an extended desk designed to accommodate greater than 20. It appeared for all of the world like a perfunctory closing assembly forward of an extended vacation break.

It’s chilling, then, to comprehend that this serene picture marked the second once they have been nonchalantly perpetrating an act of treason.

Maybe their motives lay in extreme loyalty or a want for development. In different phrases, they might have lacked the impartial reasoning capabilities or will to acknowledge the ethical tasks attendant on their actions and orders. The scenario is way the identical as the dearth of reasoning capabilities exhibited by Adolf Eichmann, which so infuriated Hannah Arendt.

However this instance of the banality of evil isn’t confined merely to ethical paralysis at a person stage. It bore connections to right-wing sentiments which have already permeated the entire of society.

The rightward shift in South Korean society can’t be defined merely when it comes to a corrupt conservative elite. Numerous incidents attest to how violence of a closely far-right character has been rising in some areas of society — together with a persistently excessive variety of femicides, racist demonstrations concentrating on Chinese language individuals and Muslims, and the assault on the Seoul Western District Court docket constructing.

A sign of how deep the roots lie may be seen in the truth that the Individuals Energy Social gathering — which remains to be hesitant to distance itself from the Yoon Suk-yeol administration — has maintained the assist of round 25% of the inhabitants amid its general slide.

The German sociologist Oliver Nachtwey explains developments like these when it comes to a “want for destruction.” Because the atomized people of the postmodern society are confronted with varied home and abroad crises and senses of financial and social deprivation at a private stage, they really feel betrayed by liberalism — being unable to benefit from the abundance and rising standing that it promised — and understand it as an unfair assault stopping them from residing a cheerful life.

Of their eyes, the declining alternatives for development make society seem to be a zero-sum sport, the place small positive aspects for others are equated with losses for themselves. Their emotions of rage and contempt cause them to envision their very own liberation and retribution via the destruction of others.

The far-right figures current themselves as guardians of liberal democracy, making the most of this type of in style psychology to incite the general public by establishing simple targets for assault and advocating a harmful agenda. In distinction with conventional fascism’s overt makes an attempt to tear down present establishments, this has been described as “democratic fascism”: a technique of constructing use of regular democratic procedures corresponding to elections and parliamentary actions to chip away at liberal democracy.

The answer must be as confrontational and basic because the menace itself.

We’d like public deliberation to establish the general public’s considerations, together with efforts to rejoin institutional type with liberal content material. We additionally want elevated consciousness of democratic citizenship and sensible insurance policies to scale back the soil the place the sense of deprivation grows.

With out reforms to alleviate political polarization and inequality, even the types of liberal democracy are unlikely to final lengthy.

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