{"id":817,"date":"2025-07-07T08:43:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-07T08:43:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/noortjemarres.net\/?p=817"},"modified":"2026-03-24T16:54:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T16:54:49","slug":"5-concepts-for-the-post-normal-society","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/noortjemarres.net\/index.php\/2025\/07\/07\/5-concepts-for-the-post-normal-society\/","title":{"rendered":"Five concepts for the post-normal society"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In this new essay published in Dutch<\/a>, and in English<\/a> (different version), I discuss several concepts that can help us make sense of life in what I call the “post-normal society.” They include reality denial, ideology, utopia and trials of co-existence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This essay appeared as part of the series Polarisation, War and Society in the June issue of De Gids<\/a>, the Amsterdam-based magazine for literature, science and culture that was founded in 1837.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this new essay published in Dutch, and in English (different version), I discuss several concepts that can help us 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, … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Five concepts for the post-normal society”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortjemarres.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/817"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortjemarres.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortjemarres.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortjemarres.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortjemarres.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=817"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/noortjemarres.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/817\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":913,"href":"https:\/\/noortjemarres.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/817\/revisions\/913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortjemarres.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortjemarres.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortjemarres.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}