YAŞAM BİÇİMİ, DEMOKRASİ VE ALIŞKANLIK: ALIŞKANLIK VE DEMOKRASİ ARASINDA OLASI BİR DİYALOĞUN HATLARI

Year 2020, Issue: 11, 185 - 198, 10.06.2020

Önder Özden

Abstract

Bu çalışmada, demokrasinin “ölümü” veya “sonu”na ilişkin (tekrar tekrar) gündeme gelen tartışmayı, demokrasinin soyut bir biçiminde ve insanlar arası etkileşimde tecessüm etmediği sürece ayakta kalamayacağının bir işareti olarak ele alan argümanın izi sürülecektir. Bu görüşe uygun olarak, eleştirel teori geleneği içinde yer alan birçok düşünür, demokrasiyi özgün bir kavramla ele almaktadır: yaşam biçimi. Bu kavramla demokrasi, kolektif irade ve arzuların biçimlendiği, tecessümsel ve öngörülemeyen karşılaşmaların alanı olarak kavramsallaştırılır. Bu anlayışa dayanarak, öncelikle ve kısaca, demokrasiyi yaşam biçimi kavramı ile tecessümsel ve dinamik bir etkileşim süreci olarak ele alan eleştirel teori içindeki argümanlar takip edilmiştir. Daha sonra, alışkanlık kavramının tecessümsel bir demokrasi için daha geniş bir anlayış sunabileceğini savunulmaya çalışılmıştır. Burada alışkanlık, kişinin çevresini dönüştürdükçe kendisinin de dönüştüğü, kişinin çevresiyle olan tesadüfi etkileşimini işaret eden bir süreç olarak, başka bir ifadeyle, sürekli devam eden bir müzakere süreci olarak tanımlanmış ve tecessümsel bir süreç olarak demokrasiye ilişkin anlayış derinleştirilmek istenmiştir. Böylelikle demokrasiye ilişkin sorunların, farklı bir açıdan ele almanın mümkün olabileceği savunulmuştur.

Keywords

Tecessümsel Demokrasi, Yaşam Biçimi, Alışkanlık, Eleştirel Teori, Düşünümsellik

FORM OF LIFE, DEMOCRACY AND HABIT: THE CONTOURS OF A POSSIBLE DIALOGUE BETWEEN HABIT AND DEMOCRACY

Abstract

In this paper I will be tracing the argument according to which the (re)current discussion about the “death” or “end” of democracy” is a sign that democracy within its abstract procedural form and without being embedded in people’s interaction cannot survive. Consistent with this insight many scholars in critical tradition try to reflect on democracy with a peculiar phrase: form of life. Primarily, along with this notion democracy is conceptualized as a process of the embodied and unpredictable encounters in which collective wills and desires are formed. Based upon this understanding, firstly, I follow the arguments within the contemporary critical theory which address democracy as a process of dynamic and embodied interactions with the notion of form of life. Subsequently, I will try to argue that in order to achieve this goal, the notion of habit might offer a broader understanding. Here, by deploying habit as a coincidental interference or an ongoing negotiation between one’s surroundings and oneself in which one is being transformed while one is transforming her surroundings, my concern is to try to deepen our understanding of democracy as an embodied process that also might pave the way to address the issues from a different angle.

Keywords

Embodied Democracy, Form of life, Habit, Critical Theory, Reflexivity

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