Die Anerkennung der Anderen als Grundlage der Demokratie?

Eine konzeptionelle Betrachtung am Beispiel der französischen Öffentlichkeit

Abstract

Fragmentation is becoming increasingly apparent in Western democracies, including France. The French government responded to the so-called yellow vest movement with a large-scale communication tool, the Grand Débat National, in which citizens were invited to express themselves through various channels.  With reference to this, this article explores the question of how "recognition of the other" is a basis for democracy and promotes social cohesion in the public sphere. To this end, two seemingly contradictory conceptual approaches by Jürgen Habermas and Chantal Mouffe are first compared, whereby recognition is presented as a common qualitative aspect. Following a reference to Nancy Fraser, these observations on the relevance of recognition in the public sphere are finally applied to the French public space during the French Grand Débat. The results of the empirical research are based on background interviews with current and former government and subcontractor employees of the Grand Débat National, as well as knowledgeable outsiders, non-governmental organizations, and the media. The investigation concludes with the discovery that communication without recognition goes wrong. The Grand Débat National was intended to whitewash the lack of recognition of opponents. Politically speaking, this worked in the short term to calm the situation. In the longer term, however, this recognition remains an empty promise without any real possibility of influencing political decision-making.