Editorial Opinion from Dr Robert Wolfgramm (sociologist, Fiji Christian Democrat): THE BIBLICAL QUESTION WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED? is symptomatic of the universal human malaise - that of an existential crisis, and more specifically, of a legitimation crisis. That crisis being an innate desire to just be (without doubt nagging us) and to be accepted socially (without having to justify ourselves constantly). Hence, the question which seems on the face of it a private personal and spiritual attempt to get to heaven free of encumbrances of sin, disease, death and the devil, is as much a social, public and political longing. Political because that same question - rephrased this way and that - is on the minds and in the mouths of political parties, governments, lobby groups, and public administrations as well as cultural institutions, businesses, universities, fraternities, ethnic groups, families, friendships and the local shopkeeper. How do I survive? The question of survival is the same as salvation. It is a question resolved, as Max Weber long ago pointed out, by processes and perceptions. Processes of legitimation are requisite undertakings in order to obtain social acceptance. Perceptions of legitimacy on the other hand, make the fine difference, for example, between Nixon having to resign his presidency in disgrace, and Clinton surviving his despite Monicas blue dress stains. The perception is everything Weber pointed out, but it is shaped by the success or failure of processes which shape the character of the relationship between the public and the political office-holder. Here in Fiji, the election this week, is not just about gaining power, it is about survival, struggling for existence, legitimacy - the legitimacy of a government regime (and now its party) that came to power through the barrel of the gun, a coup, back in December 2006. It is about political salvation which depend on processes and perceptions. The processes have been clear enough: (1) silence opposition voices by (a) controlling and monopolising public discourse through compliant media and civil service etc, and (b) by free use of coercive intimidation rituals; (2) legally, constitutionally exclude political and authoritative rivals by resort to repopulated courts and by restricting freedoms of association and movement; (3) establish a new reward-and-punishment system to obtain favours and acquiescent cooperation, if not congratulations, from the public generally, and from key institutional actors specifically; and (4) redefine everything that matters to suit your agenda. (My masters thesis 1983 on the subject of legitimation/de-legitimation dealt with these tactical processes in a specifically religious setting). Salvation for the current regime at this election will therefore depend on whether these processes have succeeded or not. Succeeded or not in reshaping perceptions of the relationship between citizens and itself. Whether sufficient doubts about the legitimacy of the regime have been scrubbed out and scribbled away by the new charter, new discourse, new language, new definitions of the national self, or not. Younger voters who were teens when the 2006 coup happened, may not care for the baggage that the current regime carries, but the legitimation process has not been without hiccups for many of the older generation of course. Despite the regimes efforts (as in 1-4 above), an abiding suspicion remains that fear, rather than free-will, is the basis for its presumed legitimacy. And that is why democracy matters - it allows the people to tell the politicians what they think of them, ideally freely and without fear. The Fijian electorates verdict on the 17th will undoubtedly help answer the regime and its leaders what must I do to be saved? question. Then we will know what the nations perceptions are, and what it thinks of the regimes legitimation processes. Whether they have been saved by their works, or not. This depends ultimately not on the regimes assertions, but on the ballot box of public perceptions. The question that will really be of interest after that verdict is known, is whether any of us, and all of us, will have faith in that verdict enough to carry on without further coups and their dire consequences. God bless Fiji, indeed. [13 September 2014]
Posted on: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 22:32:18 +0000
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