Résumé
Un des points de départ de la sociologie herméneutique que propose Johann Michel est le fait que les êtres humains sont des « animaux auto-interprétants »
et potentiellement réflexifs qui mettent en récit leur vécu individuel et collectif. Ce travail narratif est particulièrement décisif pour les sociétés démocratiques, qui reposent sur « l’auto-institution » de la vie sociale et la « dissolution des repères de la certitude ». L’hypothèse de cet article est que la
crise sanitaire a enrayé notre capacité à déployer les repères narratifs nécessaires à l’institution d’une communauté citoyenne. Les « polémiques complotistes », encore amplifiées par la pandémie, ne nous offrent guère, pour comprendre ce qui nous arrive, que la confrontation polémique entre le « doute » et le « savoir », les « forts » et les « faibles ». La « mise en intrigue » de
la vie sociale, pour reprendre ici les termes de Paul Ricoeur, se dégrade ainsi en une confrontation binaire qui supprime les prises axiologiques et les agrafes
narratives susceptibles de soutenir l’agir et le jugement publics. Plus généralement, l’analyse de la confrontation (anti)complotiste et des pathologies de la narration qu’elle met en évidence témoigne de l’épuisement de nos espaces publics démocratiques.
A foundation of the hermeneutic sociology proposed by Johann Michel is that humans are “self-interpreting” and, potentially, reflexive beings who put into narrative their individual and collective experience. This narrative work is a cornerstone of democratic societies, which are built on the “self-institution” of social life and, to use Claude Lefort’s term, the “dismantling of the markers of communal certainty.” In this article, we posit that the pandemic has profoundly undermined our capacity to deploy the narrative markers indispensable to the creation and maintenance of a community of citizens. As amplified by the health crisis, “conspiracy polemics” turn the public debate into confrontation between “doubt” and “knowledge,” the “strong” and the “weak.” In the process, the narrative plotting or, to use Paul Ricoeur’s term, the emplotment (mise en intrigue) of social life, has degraded into a binary confrontation that removes the axiological holds that support public judgment and civic decision making. More generally, the (anti-)conspiracy confrontation and the related pathologies of narratives shed light on the exhaustion of our democratic public spheres.
A foundation of the hermeneutic sociology proposed by Johann Michel is that humans are “self-interpreting” and, potentially, reflexive beings who put into narrative their individual and collective experience. This narrative work is a cornerstone of democratic societies, which are built on the “self-institution” of social life and, to use Claude Lefort’s term, the “dismantling of the markers of communal certainty.” In this article, we posit that the pandemic has profoundly undermined our capacity to deploy the narrative markers indispensable to the creation and maintenance of a community of citizens. As amplified by the health crisis, “conspiracy polemics” turn the public debate into confrontation between “doubt” and “knowledge,” the “strong” and the “weak.” In the process, the narrative plotting or, to use Paul Ricoeur’s term, the emplotment (mise en intrigue) of social life, has degraded into a binary confrontation that removes the axiological holds that support public judgment and civic decision making. More generally, the (anti-)conspiracy confrontation and the related pathologies of narratives shed light on the exhaustion of our democratic public spheres.