John Samuel
Rhetoric and reality are in eternal competition when it comes to legitimation of power in and power of institutions!
Obama Rhetoric is one thing and reality is another. Rhetoric and reality often do not match in politics. The fact of the matter is once a politician get in to driver seat of a government, he/she is often driven by the power-matrix and logic of a particular nation-state. In spite of all pre-election rhetoric and promises, most of them get entrenched in to the dominant ideology and logic of power of a nation-state in a given context. While there can be incremental change in the policy options, by and large almost all of them follow the 'status-quo' of ideological and power-equations of the nation-state. That is why there was not so much of huge difference even when NDA was in power in Delhi. And one did not have any illusions about Obama rhetoric, as he too is driven by the logic and dominant ideology of USA- as a nation state. That has been the story- so far, and that will be story even now.
I have never been formal student of history, though an ardent reader of history of institution, ideas, ideals and power. And this is what I have learnt from history:
1) In any forms of institutions ( family to government to a corporate or NGO), power operates at three levels- at the level of a set of dominant 'ideals', predominant 'interests' and ' identity'-which together make the power-matrix within a given institution- and the predominant ideology that drive the institutions.
2) Institutionalised forms of power often thrive by promising 'freedom' and invoking 'fear'.
3) Institutions tend to thrive providing 'security' and 'services', that address a threshold level of psychological and physical need of people involved in the given particular institutional- and institutionalised 'arena' of power.
4) All institutionalised forms of power creates its own sets of 'myths'- to 'sustain both 'power' and status' by a combination 'collective', 'consesus' and 'control'
5) Once power get institutionalised and entrenched, it requires a 'legitimating' and 'legitimising' rational of 'language'' symbols' and 'argument'- along with its 'totems' and 'taboos'. These narratives of legitimation of gets codified as 'ideals'- to conceal the dominant interest that operate in the 'foreground' and background' of such ideals. In the beginning those 'ideals' got legitimised by the dominant institutions of power- and then got sanctified'- as myths, symbols, icons, behaviour, beliefs and rituals- and that is how most of the religions got established.
6) When religions themselves established as the most dominant and dominating forms of power, counter discourse begin to emerge, and alternate forms of power get constituted.
7) And when an 'institutionalised' forms of power gets less 'consensual' and 'collective'- and fail to provide 'security' or 'services' to the stake-holders , the performance quotient of such power decreases and leading to 'legitimacy' crisis, paving the way for another set of legitimating ideas and ideals- and physical ( war) or societal forces( revolutions). And in the history every now and then highly institutionalised and saturated 'power-matrix' get contested and another set of 'rationalisation' of power emerges.
8)The present forms of 'nation-state' is simply a form of institutionalised power that too thrive on ideals, interests and identity( language,territory, religion, coloure and creed). And 'liberalism' ' socialism'' communism' are rationalised 'knowledge' arguments to legitimise one or other set of power at given point in time and space. All institutionalised forms of power tend to maintain the 'status' quo- through negotiating between ideals, interests and identity- and by a mix of 'security' and 'services': whether it is family or 'governments'
9) As longs as an institution is able to ensure 'security' 'service'- 'collective' legitimation- and threshold level of consensus, people tend to 'confirm. When these core 'performance' of institutions get compromised change is imminent, either through violent reaction or 'revolution' or by 'peaceful' transition or transformation.
10) Human beings don't live by bread alone. So in spite of 'interest' people do need 'ideals' and 'identity' for a sense of 'belonging' to an institutionalised form of power to feel 'free' and 'secure. And hence all institutionalised power needs 'vision', 'values' and a 'sense' of mission, though many of them happened to be 'games' of language to 'reveal' and 'conceal' at the same time.
This is often what happened and happen to all institutions- and 'institutionalised' forms of power, from family to government, from village community to the nation-state
