A week before, I got a chance to interact with the newly enrolled students at the Department of Political Science and International Relations in UMT, Lahore, in their “Introduction to Political Science” course. I usually teach courses falling within the discipline of International Relations. This was a class which I was taking on one other faculty’s behalf who was busy in a departmental meeting that day. Students I was having class with were majoring in Political Science.
Since it was a one-time encounter, I decided to have an interaction with students over something very basic in their discipline, that is politics. After asking initially a few students, what’s their understanding of Political Science and after getting a common answer from many that it’s a study of politics, when I further enquired what’s their understanding of politics and what kind of images they get in their minds for the word “politics”. I received a wide range of expected and interesting replies. Where many related politics with things happening in government’s corridors, others described politics as something that is not worth pursuing. Majority described politics as being “dodgy”, “exploitative”, “cunning”, “selfish” and “manipulative”.
Listening to their replies regarding their understanding of politics was not surprising, as in the popular discourse politics unfortunately has got only these connotations, nothing else. Not only are these negative connotations attached to politics in the popular mindset but they are being reinforced by the actions and interactions of those occupying power spaces in our society in real life. It’s tragic that politics in our society is so narrowly defined, and it’s more tragic that students who enter into academic spaces with the purpose of understanding the science of politics objectively even after completing their degree at times still subscribe to these popular notions about politics, and don’t clearly understand the scope of politics and how they can become a part of it.
To me, politics is the study of power and power exists around us in three shapes that comprise action, perception and feeling. Let me build up this concept of power and then will establish how politics is present around us in every moment and how we need to consciously approach it.
Power in action means having the ability to make someone do what you want them to do. Power in perception means having the ability to make someone think the way that you want them to think. Power in feeling means having the ability to make someone feel the way you want them to feel.
Power in action usually comes under hard power. It’s the visible form of power which we usually see among states playing out. States having an edge over other states in any way- be it military, economy or natural resources or other- because of their clout do push other states in a particular way. Within the state, states have institutional infrastructure and any institution having an edge because of any reason does push other institutions in a particular way. This explanation of politics is more in line with the typical definitions of politics that says politics is the study of what happens in the power corridors of government or among states at international level.
Sitting silent over what is unfolding in Palestine is also a political position because silence or apathy in the current situation will make the narratives of the pole that is justifying the killing of Palestinians louder than of that pole that is rallying around for this madness to stop.
Power’s existence in perception and feeling come under Soft Power. It’s the invisible form of power which is usually exhibited by many organs of the civil society comprising media, academia, literary figures, arts and painting etc. If someone or something is making you think or feel in a particular way, that’s also a display of power. When we look at power displays in the soft domain, it seems like politics is all around us. In every interaction or activity, we become a part of, we either influence or get influenced. Thus, when we read a book, we are engaged in politics. When we interact, we are engaged in politics. When we use social media, we are engaged in politics. In simple terms, our anger is politics. Our silence is politics. Our crying is politics. Our sadness is politics. Our jokes are politics. In all these instances, we are interacting with the world around us and in these interactions we either reinforce the existing statuesque or challenge the existing reality.
In simple words, we breathe politics; we eat politics; we sleep politics. Politics is within us and around us. To put it in one other way, we are not human beings having a political experience rather we are political beings having human experience.
At the moment, in the world day in day out we are influenced by a huge influx of information about day-to-day developments. One option can be allowing politics to happen to you and the other is making it happen. In other words, one option can be allowing yourself to be influenced and the other can be reciprocating that influence.
The need of the time at the moment is that we accept the reality of politics around us, own it and consciously pursue it. Our conscious pursuit of politics can help us get what we want and our apathy towards it will rob us of everything we have.
At the moment, on the global stage the way the Palestine-Israel conflict has divided the world into two poles in which one pole is justifying genocide of hapless Palestinians in the context of Israel’s proclaimed counterattack for self-defense and the other pole is raising concerns over an alarming humanitarian crisis in Gaza, it’s important that we through our speech or writing show our political position and add our contributions to the global political landscape, no matter how small they are. In the current situation.
Sitting silent over what is unfolding in Palestine is also a political position because silence or apathy in the current situation will make the narratives of the pole that is justifying the killing of Palestinians louder than of that pole that is rallying around for this madness to stop.
