In this new essay published in Dutch, I discuss several concepts that can help us to make sense of life in what I call the “post-normal society.” They include reality denial, ideology, utopia and trials of co-existence.
I start the essay with a discussion of the idea of the post-normal itself, which has recently been put forward by sociologists to capture the growing sense of ontological insecurity in contemporary societies: everyday ways of doing, working and living are increasingly challenged, even as governmental discourse on public problem-solving is losing its credibility. In the post-normal society there is growing realisation that, in the wake of proliferating crises of economy, environment, politics and culture, “there will be no return to normal.”
However, rather than inspiring public engagement with crisis, this state of affairs has created conditions in which reality denial has become increasingly widespread. I discuss how Karl Mannheim’s work on the struggle between ideology and utopia can help us to understand the situation.
This essay appeared as part of the series Polarisation, War and Society in the June issue of De Gids, the Amsterdam-based magazine for literature, science and culture that was founded in 1837.