Topic: How does the presence
of crisis affect the performative nature of politics? Is the ritual or performance more or less
effective? How is iconicity affected, and are coalitions of symbols easier or
harder for politicians to form convincingly? We will use the current COVID19
Pandemic, as well as readings from class to explore these questions.
PERFORMATIVE
PANDEMIC POLITICS
Politics
in Crisis (4/12/20)
Sarah: Hi y’all!
Welcome to our blog. So, I think today we should talk about why we chose this idea for our theme--we had kind
of a lot of options--but this one stood out to us the most, I think because of
not only what we are learning in class but also because of our everyday
lives.
Denny: This is currently relevant.
Eva: Yeah, I
mean this is really taking over politics and media right now. So the topic, and covering the coronavirus seemed
like an interesting topic because it is so broad and we can pull in a lot of
different elements to it.
Sarah: I also think that this topic is particularly pertinent right
now because not only are we
living through this major pandemic which is really consuming everybody’s lives,
but it’s one of these things where we are really looking to our political
leadership… I think maybe more so than normal because we are in an election
cycle. People are going up for reelection, there is the upcoming presidential
election. There was already a heightened attention on politics and politicians
before this pandemic started. So, I think that is also what makes it a really
interesting time to think about this. Elections are often one of the most
performative times of politics, and now we have the elections happening during
a crisis in a way that hasn’t happened before in our lifetime.
Owen: I also think that it’s interesting because almost every
reading we have done for the class
can very easily and effectively be applied to the coronavirus. So it’s
almost--this isn’t the right word, but--it’s almost lucky that we have this
model we can work on that is both topical and relevant to what we are learning
in class.
Alina: Yeah, I agree. Also, when I was thinking of possible topics
we could discuss as a group, I
was trying to think of one that could help everyone; the people reading the
blog, and also us, to process and get some more clarity in a turbulent time.
Choosing a topic focused around analyzing the pandemic could be a good way– and
maybe this is just me being overly optimistic but,– to find more reason and
meaning in a very uncertain time.
Sarah: Definitely.
Denny: I agree with Owen, I think the response to the virus is
purely performative; inherently
performative. We are far more concerned with appearances than we are with human
safety. It is entirely possible that it is more performative because it is
taking place during an election year, but it seems as if we are using corona as
a tool for the betterment of campaigns. Politicians seem to say “look see how
well I’m reacting to corona while my opponent isn’t reacting well, clearly I am
the superior candidate”. It seems to me like corona is really being used more
than it is being protected against.
Sarah: I would say I agree with that, Denny. I think that one of
the things that we see in politics
a lot is that the worse things get, the more performative politics get and the
more heightened political agendas get. I think about when countries go to war.
People study politicians and when we talk about iconicity and how we remember a
leader, or what we remember them for, oftentimes it is for these huge events
and how they handled them. The speeches they gave when we went to war, or lost
or won. It’s not often that every person in a country wants to turn on the TV
and listen to a politician talk. But it seems like that’s what all of us are
doing. This is the leadership we are choosing. Even though we listen to
scientists, we listen to doctors, at the end of the day it does feel like a
collective moment that we are all experiencing. Our politics really are meant
to be an embodiment of all of us collectively. So I think that this is
performative, and I think that whenever things get really bad or really good,
politicians jump on them. Anytime you can have everyone in the country worried
about the same thing, that is a huge opportunity to win over a coalition of
symbols to support you. Everyone wants to be the figurehead of what is
happening, sometimes for better or for worse.
Owen: I think it is also easy to connect it to war in the way that
politicians portray themselves as
the protagonist and the common enemy as the antagonist. And in this case,
instead of it being a foreign state, it is a virus. Or I guess, China, if you
listen to what Trump’s saying. Political actors attempt to make themselves look
good by placing themselves in contrast against a common enemy like this virus.
Next to COVID, anyone can look good.
Denny: Now that
you mention it, it does remind me a lot of the response Bush had to actions in Iraq and after 9/11. Positioning
yourself as a hero who will save the world, even though at the end of the day
you are really only acting in your own self interest.
Alina: Also, I’ve been thinking about how isolation is affecting
our lives. We’re unifying around
political figures because it may be our only option when every person around us
feels like the enemy. Political figures provide a sense of stability. Maybe
this is increasing political support for candidates, regardless of if they
deserve it or not– people are turning to leadership just to feel less isolated
and more supported.
Eva: I also think there is something to be said about how much more
news people are consuming
now, because we have so much time on our hands. I think that also is changing
how politics are received right now. There is definitely an aspect of politics
becoming more performative during this crisis, but there is also an aspect
where we are becoming a more willing audience. We are consuming it more,
reading into it more, comparing it more with other performances. So I wonder
how much we as the audience are affecting the performative level taking
place.
Anastasia: I think that the whole realm of politics is one that is
largely performative. It is
substantial in that there are policies that run through our current governing
bodies, but as young people, a lot of our exposure to it is through meme
culture and internet culture in general. There are some people in our age group
who do actively consume news to gauge the developing political climate, but
there are several others who don’t. For the latter group, they absorb whatever
they see online and either share or regurgitate it themselves in the forms of
jokes. Comedy has been a significant part of how our generation processes
information, and political developments are no exception. So, seeing a
legitimate crisis really intervene on the status quo, our status quo, is very
much a revolution of our perspectives and perceptions of politics. Our
interpretive tools of information and political performance feel defunct
because of this new and unforgiving gravity. This pandemic is affecting figures
and institutions beyond our immediate access and even comprehension, but it is
so interfering because it has forced society on a global scale to slow down.
It’s interesting how politicians are adapting their performances to either
match or to contradict the ongoing crisis. Watching life unspool through the
eyes of our political leaders is something that deserves the immediate,
knee-jerk documentation we are hoping to provide, done not only to process this
new reality but to preserve ourselves in this moment.
Sarah: Well,
cool you guys, I like it. Any other thoughts? If not, I think we have some good stuff to think about for our individual
explorations of performance during a crisis before we meet again.
All: Sounds great!
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