The false belief in modernity’s unity is itself a political fact that directs action

Evidence

We invoke Arendt to underscore conspiracism’s destructiveness. And to underscore that, new century though it is, common sense is still the ground of democratic politics. Common sense is the political sense par excellence, Arendt advised, because the capacity for political action and common sense entail each other. When that connection is broken, politics comes to an end. Without recourse to the sometimes unspoken shared understanding of social and political reality embodied in common sense, the scope for collective political action closes down. It is closed down by disorientation. It is closed down by the fact that a new schism has opened up and taken over. — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 292 (#complicates, via linked claim)

It is right to say that “modernity” is neither a totally coherent object nor a clearly bounded one, and that many of its elements originate in relations with the histories of peoples outside Europe. Modernity is a project— or rather, a series of interlinked projects—that certain people in power seek to achieve. The project aims at institutionalizing a number of (sometimes conflicting, often evolving) principles: constitutionalism, moral autonomy, democracy, human rights, civil equality, industry, consumerism, freedom of the market—and secularism. — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular, 63 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Modernity’s hegemony is explained by its political utility, not its truth; Some political falsehoods aim at affirmation of authority, not belief — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 164; Modern political power worked by creating the appearance of an abstract order framing reality — Timothy Mitchell, Colonising Egypt, 85 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Political action requires shared common sense that conspiracism destroys #complicates (0.73) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 292
• Modernity is a political project institutionalizing conflicting principles, not a state of affairs #complicates (0.72) — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular, 63