Rebel, Discourse and Democracy

As a part of OpenSpace's initiatives in Hyderabad, friends of OS in Hyderabad have initiated a reading group. This reading group meets twice a month. The group deliberates and discusses democracy and other social issues.

Sarat Vasireddy presented his paper "Rebel, Discourse and Democracy". The paper is highly provocative, hence it opens a scope for a debate. We have pasted the paper below. Comments and suggestions are invited.


Rebel, Discourse and Democracy

Certain sections of the civil society are disillusioned with the idea of democracy and this perhaps has a lot to do with the failure of the civil society. Hardly anybody seems interested in being a part of a democratic process. Very often, exercises on democracy are restricted to “vote at the election campaigns.” While, I don’t dismiss the effects of such well meant campaigns; the problems seems to be that exercise on democracy begin and end with such campaigns.
Meanwhile, two of the most quintessential aspects of democracy- namely discourse and the rebel are neglected. While static rebelling institutions are crushed with military might; disenchantment of certain sections of populations with the institution, changing socio-economic situations has snuffed out the chances of the emergence of an informed discourse. Historically informed rebellion and an informed discourse have appeared as the vanguard of democracy. Be it Western Europe or Colonized nations of Asia, democracy thrived in nations where informed rebellion against established norms and an informed social discourse went hand in hand.
Rebel has always influenced the discourse on democracy and the discourse on democracy has always influenced rebels. One cannot exist without the other in a democracy and the absence of these two apparently conflicting parties an informed public discourse, which is at the heart of democracy, cannot shape up. Evolution of democracy is a continuous process and much of it has to do with the struggle of the rebel against established social and political norms of existence. While the rebel keeps hitting at the commonsensical practices and widens it, the discourse in turn generated by such practices shapes up the future rebels. This dialectics is important for the survival of democracy without which the whole process stagnates.
Democracy, as an evolving institution is never mature enough to accommodate the social, economic and political problems of the current and the future. Drawing on the lived experiences the rebel constantly tries to enlarge the scope of the institution. However, very often we encounter ill-informed rebellion that does the cause of ‘common good’ little good. I am aware of the problems intrinsic to the terms like ‘common good’, and I use it in very loose sense of the term. An ill-informed rebellion often results in destruction of opportunities to act as a meaningful opposition and often creates ill-informed discourse. Thus, to create a meaningful democracy an informed discourse needs to be generated by the civil society, which in turn will serve the purpose of the rebels better.
Youth, not so burdened with norms and social restrictions need to play a vital role in generating an informed discourse and of course in creating informed rebels. Deliberations on the theme can lead to better strategies and yield better results. Very often, it is very common to find middle class population shying away from discussing democratic practices and public forums, and label such discussions as unproductive usage of time. The ill-informed rebel often dubs such activities as ‘drawing room meetings’ and advocates against it. The ill-informed rebel, given the lack of access to informed discourse on the system, often privileges direct actions over such deliberation. While the enthusiasm of the ill-informed rebel could arise out of the lack of access, often the activities end up as meaningless misadventures.
It is perhaps the right time that we have assembled here, to meet regularly, to learn, unlearn and discuss various aspects of civil society. We should reach out, include others and then collectively deliberate on crucial issues. I recommend that we document the findings that arise from our discussions and contribute our bit to the creation of a context specific, meaningful, well informed discourse on democracy. As a rebel at heart, it really pains me to see the disappearance of well-informed rebels, who could influence the production of a well informed discourse and vice-versa, as to evolve a more effective praxis.
However, the task at hand is more difficult today. It is extremely difficult for the rebel to generate discourse that stretches the limits of democracy. Likewise, the task of effectively theorizing contemporary politics, by all of us, students of polity whether trained formally or otherwise in the discipline has become difficult. This is primarily to do with the fact that language has become more complex. Contexts are also more divergent. However, one needs to access language, comprehend the suitable context to aid in the process of producing suitable discourse. Hence, while engaging in the productive activity of generating meaningful discourse on democracy, also needs to find modes where one needs to work suitably round the context, identify the potential of it and if need be work round it.
Historically, it has been the case that movements for rights take backseat in cozy economic conditions. The middle classes, who are aptly suited to spearhead rebellion or generate discourse, in the cozy situations are more preoccupied with their false trip to upward mobility. Very often, once the conditions deteriorate crisis situation prevails. This leads to frustration in the middle classes and a general, ill-directed sense of dissent prevails. Given that dissent is not properly organized or channelized, for the lack of a proper discourse and informed rebels; these sections of population are often swayed by reactionary forces. Reactionary forces, be it in Germany of the 1930s or Italy, often direct the disenchanted, dissented populations address issues which are not of primary importance. Very often, we find the reactionary masquerade as the informed rebel, and such forces often create the illusory other. The disenchanted population eager to channelize its anger or dissent often focuses itself on the illusory other. Such endeavors, besides victimizing the other, also lead to a sense of hopelessness. False consciousness seeps in and we find fascist tendencies, jingoism etc. prevail in the civil society.
It is at this juncture, I urge that we all come together and generate informed discourse. Such an endeavor helps us in the formation of a well- informed rebel and strengthens the democratic process.


Sarat Vasireddy is the chairperson of Radical Democrats. An art collector and a social activist, Sarat finds time to discharge his duties as the Director- Education, DR. Reddys' Foundation.