When Facts Don't Matter: Understanding the Resources of Post-Truth Democracy

Abstract

Under what conditions does it become possible for political power to build legitimacy on resources unrelated to facts? The papers in this panel explore different dimensions of what has come to be described as a “post-truth era”, identifying its philosophical, technological, affective, as well as economic conditions. Importantly, they also point to the potential of the logics of conspiracy theories for legitimating a power independent on established knowledge and to the infrastructure and networks spreading false information in order to « manufacture” dissent.