Slavoj Zizek’s article on law and order in the wake of the French riots is a classic example of why Western standards cannot be applicable as global standards anymore.
Slavoj Zizek is no isolated figure when it comes to writing pointed articles. Someone relevant against the fundamentalism of any ideologically driven facet that works will constantly work to be bullish around it. At times, Zizek is quite good at showing the loopholes around ideological sides that try to be hardliners in their approach and essentially, he aims to keep that Methodology as his basis to float any kind of new ideas that favours neither the side but tries to focus on the individual and his/her ability to think. His recent article is considered to be ‘provocative’ as the title goes – “The Left Must Embrace Law and Order”
However, the recent article betrays an appeal for his ideological group to use the state and ensure an alliance with the liberal (classical or postmodern) and establish a working relationship with them. Zizek hopes that this would help in crushing what he terms as ‘dangerous right-wing elements’ that are motivated to be against a diverse or equitable society.
It’s funny and not at all provocative when Zizek asks the left to embrace itself with the liberals and the centrists for survival and not for saving some disfranchisement. It’s a shrewd move given by him but his premise based on French protests and the Wagner VS Russia episode is faulty. The fault lies in generalization and casting an ignorance of the political support behind these two kinds of incidents. Even when he makes a minor quote by Steve Bannon, that also shows the same kind of model undertaken.
The French Protests
The French protest was against the liberal- centrists regime of Emmanuel Macron which resorted to the state’s law and order arrangement to suppress them, something Slavok wishes the left to embrace. What he doesn’t point out here is that the Right-wing leader Marie Le Penn had not been seen close to these protests which had substantial backing from worker unions, police unions and other groups close to the youth and their demands around tax and unemployment. The recent protests included immigrants that attacked both supposed nationalist rallies as well as infrastructural apparatus. They had the support of the left again and not the right wing. So to understand this, the French protests against the Macron government are more about the left VS the liberal government. To make it into a right-wing objective is a miscalculation.
Wagner v/s Russian Government
During the special operation, the Wagner Group, which is a private military contractor, alleged that the Russian defence ministry instructed the army to allegedly attack Wagner Forces near Bakhmut. This led to their declaration as a neutral entity and they declared a March back to Moscow. After 20 hours of drama, they declared their withdrawal and the end of hostilities with Belarusian President Lukashenko brokering an understanding between Prigozhin and Putin. The Mercenary v/s State in terms of Russia is not even close to a social order being unstable but rather a fault line between two elites only. Even there, both so-called elites in Prigozhin and Putin found a way around to sort out their so-called drama and there are questions over that drama too. 5 days after their rebellion, Prigozhin met Putin in Moscow and their contract with the Russian army in Africa remains regardless of anything. They have shifted their position to Belarus and are constantly helping the Belarusian army in preparation for possible hostilities towards the Polish border.
In the Indian Context
So Slavok is focused on the relevance and the survivability of the left, rather than thinking about any protection of any suppressed class. And it works and reeks of the artful concept behind most Communist, socialist, capitalist and Marxist designs. This attempt to relate with their closest ideological troupe is no surprise. The new order of the word is making him think about the rise of the post-modernist or post-truth side of the left that will silence even the most orthodox classical Marxists and Communists of their day. Hence that is the underlying fear that forces Zizek to ask for a cross-alliance of sorts.
In India, we see that within student politics and national politics. But here, the sense of political opportunism has its dividends and ideology is as transparent as a plastic straw. One can pick and choose which side they want to suck from the straw. There are examples of the left and the liberal coming together in a state to undermine what people like Zizek would term as ‘right wing’. Usage of state machinery to undermine and attempt in suppressing many genuine issues at hand. Unfortunately for Zizek, the so-called Non-left or the left is very different with many today even dismissing the character of the BJP and Shiv Sena that enjoyed the tag of being a ‘Right Wing’ populist government.
An example I would like to quote is how many political scientists clapped and praised the Farmer protests that happened in 2021 with ample foreign support from all kinds of governments present. The famous bit came from the Canadian President who deliberately made statements about this protest, expressing his support for it. But the same President in power subjected draconian measures when the trucker protests occurred as a rebellion against the government and its policies. Zizek would remain silent and more likely, defensive for him but would allegedly ignore the casteist measures some groups within the Farmer protests took to get more people on board.
Interestingly a similar type of protest happened against the Rajiv Gandhi government which was considered liberal. He had ordered the state machinery to disperse the protests with a heavy hand and ensured his survivability. So whatever Zizek now hopes for the Left to use as a tactic to survive has been tried and tested here already in a different format. Before 1977, it was a liberal congress party and their left allies that suppressed any sort of freedom of protest from every ideological corner during the emergency. And another similar tactic was used by the left when they gave outside support to the VP Singh Government with the BJP who are considered ‘right wing’ to keep the Congress out of power. In such circumstances, political opportunism is what plays a strong role and ideological survival is of zero importance.
Ironically it also shows as he states in his article that the sentiment of the voiceless seems to be shifting from the left and the liberal to the so-called right. This is yet again another example of something Zizek has earlier expressed but does not apply as to why ideological positions or theoretical understanding are abandoned for the sake of power and glory, be it a bourgeoisie or a proletariat.
It is a classic example of why Western standards cannot be applicable as global standards anymore.
(Anhad Jakhmola is a postgraduate scholar in international relations. He has his undergraduate degree in history and is pursuing his PhD in Defence and Strategic Studies. He is a columnist for many portals and is a keen public speaker in debates and discussions. Views expressed are author’s own)
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