Ethics, politics and affects: renewing the conceptual and pedagogical framework of addressing fanaticism in education

ABSTRACT

This essay reconceptualizes fanaticism as an activity that does not rely on the condemnation of ‘fanatical’ acts as a priori ‘irrational.’ Rather, it theorizes fanaticism as a method of ethical and political critique against a regime of representation. It also argues that it is crucial to understand fanaticism through an approach that does not set up a dichotomy between affect and reason, disavowing the ‘irrational’ behavior of fanatics. Drawing on affect theory and particularly the entanglement of feeling-thinking, this paper emphasizes that fanaticism is better understood within a framework that takes seriously the role of affects. Such a conceptual framework has important pedagogical implications for how to address fanaticism in education. This essay suggests that it is crucial to invent pedagogical strategies that are rooted in a reconceptualized notion of fanaticism that pays attention to its ethical, political and affective dimensions.

KEYWORDS:

• Fanaticism
• ethics
• politics
• affect
• pedagogy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Some scholars (e.g. Olson 2007) suggest that ‘fanaticism’ is interchangeable with ‘extremism’ or ‘zealotry.’ Although there may be some conceptual similarities, I argue that it is important to maintain a distinction between these concepts as their historical trajectories have evolved differently (see Goldsmith 2019).

2. For example, the current state of politics of affects can be seen in the intense emotionalization of public discourse, especially through the social media, as well as the intense polarization of political expression in many countries around the world (e.g. see Barnidge et al. 2018; Prinz 2021; Schaefer 2020). These examples are helpful in understanding the constitution of fanaticism in contemporary social and political life.

3. The list of local ‘everyday’ fanaticisms is purposely extended here beyond the common and frequently controversial examples of political and religious fanaticism to include also sport fanaticism, music fanaticism etc. Broadening our understanding of fanaticism highlights what it means to be a ‘fan’ of a certain team, band, and so on. Being a fan in these respects entails both a deeply personal and emotional investment, and this arguably facilitates an understanding of fanaticism as not necessarily related to violent radicalism and extremism. I am indebted to one of the anonymous reviewers for suggesting this clarification.

4. It is also important to analyze the affective and rational logics of fanatical movements in terms of their representational strategies, namely, how some fanatical groups manage to represent themselves in ways that mask their extremist views by referring to liberal ideas. For example, some Covid-19 protesters in many countries were members of right-wing extremist groups and yet they presented themselves as protectors of free speech and other rights. Hence, it is crucial to pay attention to the instrumentalization of public discourse by protest movements and the strategies they use to represent themselves. I am indebted to one of the anonymous reviewers for this clarification.