Going through Florian Mühlfried's *Misstrauen* again, this time to take more serious notes. I'll break with my past protocol and put my notes right here. Because, why not. I'll focus on how his thinking might apply to #distrust in cross-disciplinary critique. #writingstudies 1/
Mühlfried starts by noting contemporary distrust in political elites, established media, and research experts. He says "gilt...wissenschaftlichen Experten," so not literally "research." I can't translate "wissenschaftlich" to "scientific." Scroll up: 2/
Mühlfried notes an increase in anti-expertise movements which distrust mainstream systems & don't accept as truthful the facts those systems establish. At the core of the "postfactual," the crisis of truth, lies distrust. We need to theorize it, but not to simply overcome it. 3/
"Tatsächlich ist der Appell, bürgerliches Vertrauen zurückzugewinnen, zu einem politischen Schlachtruf geworden. Misstrauen ist inzwischen Inbegriff für falsches Bewusstsein, das vernünftiges und letzlich alternativloses Regieren verhindert." (p. 8) 4/
Mühlfried's project proceeds from the assumption that that the above is too simple a view, and in order to enable criticism of power we need to better understand forms and functions of distrust. 5/
What crises tend to have in common, says Mühlfried, is that through focus on the concept of trust, the implicit danger of distrust shifts into the centre of the debate. We shift from talking about what put the system in crisis to how the lack of trust is perceived. (p. 10) 6/
"Durch die normative Setzung des Vertrauens--wenn nicht als Normalzustand, dann doch als unbedingte Notwendigkeit für gesellschaftliches und politisches Gemeinwesen--wird Misstrauen zum eigentlichen Problem, das zum Verschwinden gebracht werden muss." (p. 10) 7/
The concept of trust has received much attention. Mühlfried points to: Niklas Luhmann, Anthony Giddens, Jürgen Habermas, Francis Fukuyama.
But distrust, not so much. Except in the writing of our lovingly grumpy friend Friedrich Nietzsche. 8/
But distrust, not so much. Except in the writing of our lovingly grumpy friend Friedrich Nietzsche. 8/
"So rät [Nietzsche] . . . nicht nach Weisheit zu streben, sondern sein Misstrauen zu perfektionieren: 'So viel Misstrauen, so viel Philosophieren.' Misstrauen ist für ihn eine 'Quelle der Wahrhaftigkeit,' weil es 'Spannung, Beobachtung, Nachdenken nötig macht.'" (p. 9-10) 9/
Getting to some useful stuff re: distrust & disciplinary critique. Mühlfried says Nietzsche's insight into distrust has been ignored: "Misstrauen konnte sich weder als Mittel der Wissensgewinnung noch als vollwertiger Gegenstand wissenschaftlicher Betrachtung durchsetzen." 10/
Working with Luhmann's point that distrust is a form of engagement, this I love: "Im Gegensatz zu Vertrauen wird nicht mit einem glücklichen Ausgang gerechnet, sondern das Scheitern ins Kalkül gezogen. . . . Misstrauen verhindert Handlungen also nicht, sondern ist Arbeit." 11/
Distrust doesn't block action, but rather it is engagement and it is work.
To view distrust as lack of trust is a mistake.
We need to consider the knowledge-making and heuristic value of distrust. 12/
To view distrust as lack of trust is a mistake.
We need to consider the knowledge-making and heuristic value of distrust. 12/
Mühlfried notes how constructive distrust is in political culture. Constitutions are shaped by distrust against the state. Division of power, press freedom, checks and balances enable ways of distrustfully observing the state. 13/
"Nicht nur ohne Vertrauen, auch ohne Misstrauen kann Demokratie nicht bestehen." (p. 15) 14/
Mühlfried develops a spectrum of how distrust is practiced along an axis that has on one end centripetal distrust--social engagement to control government or market activities--and on the other end centrifugal distrust--attempts to separate oneself or one's sect from society. 15/
Most forms of distrust lie in between both poles and are not intended neither to improve the system nor to eliminate it. They accept the system as unavoidable but also don't fully trust it. 16/
Mühlfried distinguishes open and obscured forms of distrust. In everyday encounters--in the middle of the spectrum--we try to hide or obscure our distrust; there is negative stigma to showing distrust. Open distrust it more likely found on the extreme ends of the spectrum. 17/
Further distinctions. Obscured distrust (in the middle of the spectrum) can be:
active--to act trusting on the surface, but also let distrust flourish underneath
passive--Bartleby's "I prefer not to."
neutral--to act reserved, to share feelings & thoughts selectively
18/
active--to act trusting on the surface, but also let distrust flourish underneath
passive--Bartleby's "I prefer not to."
neutral--to act reserved, to share feelings & thoughts selectively
18/
Mühlfried asks the big questions, "Wie viel Misstrauen kann Demokratie vertragen? Und was passiert, wenn Misstrauen verdrängt wird?" (p. 19)
He briefly sketches out distrust in political theories of the liberal, democratic, and revolutionary tradition. 19/
He briefly sketches out distrust in political theories of the liberal, democratic, and revolutionary tradition. 19/
The chapters have a range of examples. They make the book entertaining, so they have their function. Examples about surveillance during a visit in Armenia, the Nato Double-Track Decision, 1968 protests, Wikileaks, films with aliens. The examples don't always push the theory. 20/
Mühlfried's discussion on strangers who receive hospitality is very good, however. Mühlfried relies on extensive field work he has done in Georgia (that country). It starts with this lovely paragraph, following from a bit of a film studies excursion into stories with aliens. 21/
Hospitality is a taking in of stranger, but it happens with reservations. The stranger and the host both have roles, rights and obligations.
Of course, Jacques Derrida comes up: the conditional rules of hospitality are underwritten by unconditional hospitality.
22/
Of course, Jacques Derrida comes up: the conditional rules of hospitality are underwritten by unconditional hospitality.
22/
Unconditional hospitality--accepting a stranger without knowing anything about them or asking any questions--is risky. Some religious communities practice unconditional hospitality. Apparently there's a Georgian proverb, "Every guest is a gift from God." 23/
Nice interpretation of that proverb: "schließlich durchbricht das Kommen des Fremden die ewige Wiederkehr des alltäglich Gleichen und öffnet den Raum für Außergewöhnliches." (p. 47)
The guest as a gift from god disrupts quotidian sameness & opens space for the extraordinary. 24/
The guest as a gift from god disrupts quotidian sameness & opens space for the extraordinary. 24/
Practices of hospitality are costly. They work on doubled planes--trust on the surface, distrust underneath. Hospitality doesn't transform distrust; animosity doesn't get turned into trust. Instead, there's a doubling--the stranger remains strange, but you can't show that. 25/
Mühlfried distinguishes his concept of distrust from Luhmann's: where Luhmann says distrust reduces complexity, the discussion of hospitality shows it leads to a cultivation of complexity. In the doubling of planes, distrust is tested and used as a way to gain knowledge. 26/
Distrust can also reduce complexity. In the case of death cults--or other sects with centrifugal distrust that makes them separate themselves from society--it leads to a crass simplification of the world. 27/
Loss of complexity doesn't necessarily come from distrust, but from the desire to reduce the ambivalence of the everyday world. Radical distrust helps to avoid questions like, "who can I trust?", and "should I keep in contact or avoid contact with this person?" 28/
Last page: "Es scheint fast so, als würde dem Misstrauen eine Kraft innewohnen, Herrschaftsverkrustungen aufzubrechen und Raum für neue Bewegung zu schaffen. Und so kann Misstrauen ein Anfang sein--ein Anfang, sich der gefühlten Distanz zum Lauf der Dinge nicht zu schämen." 29/
Distrust's political power: it can challenge power structures & hegemony, it can create room; distrust can be a beginning; the beginning of not feeling ashamed of feeling distanced from business as usual.
From this distance we can create political positions and demands.
30/
From this distance we can create political positions and demands.
30/
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