Fear as a Political Emotion: The Rise of New Violent Orders

The turn of the twentieth century witnessed the rise of global dangers like climate change, natural disasters, and terrorism that invariably changed not only the daily lives of citizens but also their democratic institutions. The so-called “War on Terror” inaugurated a form of politics involving deliberate manipulation of fear through political rhetoric, media strategies, as well as the exploitation of surveillance technologies. This political manipulation allowed the support of policies that otherwise would be rejected by lay citizens. Some critical voices –some of them the well-renowned experts invited to write this book- alerted to the risk of terrorism serving as a Trojan Horse toward the emergence of populist discourses oriented to erode democratic checks and balances institutions. These discourses directed the underlying anger in society towards imagined enemies, ethnic minorities, strangers, and political dissidents. This sentiment of anger fueled a desire for punitive retaliation that ultimately cemented fear as a global political emotion. The figure of the “Other” has been demonized as an internal foe to be eradicated. As a result of this, new violent and autocratic regimes have emerged from the core of liberal democracies as never before. This book gathers six high-quality chapters aimed at discussing not only how the fear culture effaces the division of democratic powers but also the future of liberal democracy in the world. The authors in this book have been seminal and pioneering voices in discussing the negative impact of fear culture in the democratic order.