The Paradox of Identity Security in Liberal Democracy: The Mitigation and Facilitation of Recourse to Political Violence
Titel:
The Paradox of Identity Security in Liberal Democracy: The Mitigation and Facilitation of Recourse to Political Violence
Auteur:
Hughes, Bryn
Verschenen in:
Civil wars
Paginering:
Jaargang 10 (2008) nr. 2 pagina's 73-92
Jaar:
2008-06
Inhoud:
Mainstream views maintain that liberal democracy mitigates recourse to political violence. 'The ballot replaces the bullet' is a belief informed by the Democratic Peace Thesis, which not only posits that peace will pervade between democracies but, by way of a 'domestic analogy', within. How then do we explain cases of entrenched political violence within established liberal democracies, such as ETA in Spain? As the world experiments increasingly with liberal democratic forms of governance, too much is taken for granted about the relationships between liberal democracy and recourse to political violence. Hence, this article aims to add understanding on this important contemporary issue from an identity perspective by adapting the Copenhagen School's concept of 'societal identity security'. Using two case studies wherein the relationships between the liberal democratic framework encounters 'Other' group identity notions of how to live together, the article concludes that, on the one hand, liberal democracy can mitigate recourse to political violence for those groups with compatible identities. On the other hand and in opposition to mainstream opinions, liberal democracy can facilitate recourse for those groups which construct their identities in ways incompatible with its core principles (e.g., individual egoism or free market economics). This paradox stems from an internal contradiction of orthodox liberal democracy: specifically, that while claiming to accommodate and hence provide security for diverse groups, this accommodation does not extend to its core principles about 'the good life'.
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