Foundational Moments, Representative Claims and the Ecology of Social Ignorance.
This article identifies a blind spot in constructivist theories of representation and their account of legitimacy in terms of the challenge posed by ecologies of social ignorance, generally and especially during foundational moments. Social ignorance is conceptualised here not merely as the absence...
| Published in: | Political Studies Vol. 70; no. 4; pp. 962 - 983 |
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| Format: | Article |
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Sage Publications Inc.
Nov2022
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=159693434&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 159693434 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00323217 PSZ jtl: Political Studies issn: 00323217 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: Nov2022 vid: 70 iid: 4 pid: 344 pub: Sage Publications Inc. artinfo: ui: 159693434 10.1177/0032321721995639 ppf: 962 ppct: 21 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T db: hlh ui: 159693434 – @attributes: type: P db: hlh ui: 159693434 tig: atl: Foundational Moments, Representative Claims and the Ecology of Social Ignorance. aug: au: Mihai, Mihaela affil: Politics and International Relations, School of Social and Political Science, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK su: United Kingdom Representative government Social constructionism Political attitudes Ignorance (Theory of knowledge) sug: subj: Representative government Social constructionism Political attitudes United Kingdom Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling Ignorance (Theory of knowledge) keyword: Brexit constructivist theories of representation founding moments Keywords political emotions social ignorance Brexit constructivist theories of representation founding moments Keywords political emotions social ignorance ab: This article identifies a blind spot in constructivist theories of representation and their account of legitimacy in terms of the challenge posed by ecologies of social ignorance, generally and especially during foundational moments. Social ignorance is conceptualised here not merely as the absence of knowledge or true belief but as a social practice of legitimising epistemically problematic political imaginaries and the institutional systems they underpin. In dialogue with social epistemologists and phenomenologists, the article shows how representation can nurture social ignorance, despite the availability of ample opportunities for political contestation and alternative opinion formation. A permanent feature of democratic politics, this problem becomes most salient during moments of constitutional re-founding, such as regime change, post-conflict reconstruction or constitutional referenda, when representative claims can reconfigure a community's political imaginary, rendering it more or less ignorant. The representative claims made by the Vote Leave's key figures during the Brexit referendum campaign serve as illustration. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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