La partecipazione politica nel tempo della post-democrazia

Abstract

he concept of participation has been defined in different ways over time and also the prac-tices of political participation have been interpreted and classified in many different ways in the political procedures of the representative democracies. Similarly, the notion of conflictpresents various critical points: even in some forms of democratic innovation, the conflicthas been expunged or anesthetized. The growing centrality of the digital ecosystem repre-sents a new variable: on the one hand, in fact, it offers spaces for mobilization and political action, on the other hand, it reveals itself as the outcome of a digital capitalism in which thedealignment of power between citizens and platforms is resolved clearly in favour of thelatter. The emergence of what has been defined as “platform society” is connected with theaffirmation of post-democracy. The public sphere - increasingly fragmented - is also evolv-ing towards what has been defined as the “post-public sphere”. The transformations taking place can be better understood if framed in the “paradigm of the crisis”, made even moreevident in the time of the pandemic. A review of many concepts then becomes necessary,within a scientific horizon that does not renounce to critically analyse its own tools.