Coercion, Conscription and War in the Digital Age: Kantian Perspectives

Abstract

On Kant's account, political power is enforced legitimately through three levels of law, namely the law of the state, the law between states and cosmopolitan law (between a state and stateless citizens or citizens of another state, who do not represent that other state). On a Kantian view, power can be legitimately exercised when it enforces law on each of these levels. Technology in the digital age generates forms of power that cannot be easily addressed using traditional normative frameworks. For instance, hybrid war mobilises fake news and social media, which can be very efficient tools through each individuals can be antagonised and led to conflict. Similar effects can be obtained through algorithmic targeting and accelerated executive decision-making. More generally, we can see ourselves and our societies as subject to digital coercion. Digital technologies introduce both new power relations and the concentration of power in the hands of a few. The aim of this panel is to examine these power-related aspects of national and international politics with the help of the conceptual framework put forward by Kant in his political philosophy, for instance, through his view of public authority, moral permissibility (not treating persons as mere means), republican governance and just war theory.

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