Cancel culture in world politics:
historical and philosophical roots

Chugrov S.V.,

MGIMO University, Moscow, Russia, s.chugrov@inno.mgimo.ru

elibrary_id: 252110 | ORCID: 0000-0002-8307-7606 | RESEARCHER_ID: E-4747-2016

Article received: 2022.06.22. Accepted: 2022.07.22
DOI: 10.17976/jpps/2022.05.07

Rubric: Theme of the issue: new media and politics

For citation:

Chugrov S.V. Cancel culture in world politics: historical and philosophical roots. – Polis. Political Studies. 2022. No. 5. https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2022.05.07

Abstract

In the West, ‘cancel culture,’ which is spreading at the speed of an epidemic, has been turned into a mechanism for applying a ‘new ethics.’ Despite the fact that the concept of ‘cancel culture’ remains opportunistic, it has become necessary to identify the subject of research of this phenomenon from the standpoint of political science and methods of historical and philosophical deconstruction in order to understand: what is the genesis and true meaning of the cancel culture and why it has so widely and promptly acquired such an influence on world politics? The hypothesis is that cancel culture is connected by a sociogenetic code with the evolution (moreover, mutation) of the deep meanings of European culture, dating back to the sacralization of antique rituals, Aristotelian ‘tertium non datur’ principle, the ideology of the Crusades, to the ‘contractual truth’ of Karl Popper’s positivist ‘contractual truth’ that gave rise to Soros-type ‘open society’ cultural universalism. New media, and social networking par excellence, have become instruments of pressure through a cancel culture at the international level. The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the depth of the crisis of the Open society social project and globalization, understood as leveling the values of national cultures, including political ones, in congruency with the standards of the American worldview. The measures taken by Russia, China, and a number of other countries to protect their axiological sovereignty led to a tough reaction from the West in the form of ‘fencing off’ and a scheme of ‘punishment’ similar to the ‘canceling of Hollywood movie stars,’ that is, treating the ‘dissident’ countries as rogue states, interfering with the ‘effective’ project of ‘democratic globalization up to the declaration of ‘dissident countries’ as rogue states interfering with the ‘effective’ project of ‘democratic globalization’. In this discussion article, the author considers ways to neutralize attempts to ‘cancel Russian culture’ and proves that Russia has a ‘firewall’ in the form of traditional values opposing the ‘new ethics’ as well as in the form of creating new ties and open platforms for interaction at the international level. At the same time, it is in Russia's interests to avoid self-isolation from the West and build relations with it, combining the protection of value sovereignty and the media environment with balanced strategic empathy in order to avoid a catastrophic escalation of events towards nuclear war threshold.

Keywords

cancel culture, new ethics, post-truth, Popper, Soros, universal values.

Full Text

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Content No. 5, 2022