Change Quote by Slavoj Žižek
““We do not get to vote on who owns what, or on relations in factory and so on, for all this is deemed beyond the sphere of the political, and it is illusory to expect that one can actually change things by "extending" democracy to ple's control. Radical changes in this domain should be made outside the sphere of legal "rights", etcetera: no matter how radical our anti-capitalism, unless this is understood, the solution sought will involve applying democratic mechanisms (which, of course, can have a positive role to play)- mechanisms, one should never forget, which are themselves part of the apparatus of the "bourgeois" state that guarantees the undisturbed functioning of capitalist reproduction. In this precise sense, Badiou hit the mark with his apparently wired claim that "Today, the enemy is not called Empire or Capital. It's called Democracy." it is the "democratic illusion" the acceptance of democratic procedures as the sole framework for any possible change, that blocks any radical transformation of capitalist relations.””
About This Quote
Source Essay: “The Parallax View of Democracy”, 2015
Democracy is portrayed as a false solution that masks deeper capitalist structures, preventing radical change.
In simple terms: Democracy can be an illusion that blocks true transformation.
Question democratic assumptions.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- activism
- policy reform
- social movements
- academic debate
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- What alternatives to democratic processes could enable radical change?
- How does democracy both enable and constrain transformation?
Democratic mechanisms can still offer incremental improvements.