Modern conservatisation and the "truth regime" of the pandemic

On November 11 Dimitris Kilakos (PhD, Adjunct Lecturer, University of West Attica, Greece) took part in the "Culture matters" research seminar with the report "Modern conservatisation and the "truth regime" of the pandemic".

The impact of an ongoing conservatisation of our societies may be traced in various recent socio-political developments. This modern conservatisation is manifested as a tendency to cope with and react to emerging and novel developments affecting the previously established normality in social life by employing attitudes stemming from those parts of past experiences that do not coincide with the logic and the inherent dynamic of the underlying socio-historical processes. Its impact is vividly present nowadays, in social attitudes and public stances regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. This conservatisation does not necessarily amount to conservatism, as this term is usually conceived in politics, i.e. as opposite to liberalism. On the contrary, it could be evident in both "conservative" and "liberal" political views. From the various aspects of modern conservatisation, this report focused particularly on the relatively broad resonance of un- (or even counter-) scientific and irrational beliefs, due to its interest with regard to the pandemic. Furthermore, there was a discussion of the correlation of its epistemological background with postmodern views and theories, which have marked social sciences.