The Internet, cosmopolitanism, and democratization – the game at the interstices of NIS space
Email: kizima@mailcity.com
The aim of this paper is to discuss the problem of democratization in the Newly Independent States and the impact of the spread of the Internet and cosmopolitanism on the process of this democratization.
First of all we need to define what do we mean under "democracy". It is possible to divide democracy on the two main types that are quite different in the organization of their functioning – the stable democracy of Western type and the new, created in the attempt to catch the last train of modernization by the elites of the new states, including NIS. The stable democracy can be characterized by the creation of specific "symbolical pattern of formed fears" aimed at the preservation of specific "democratic" type of state arrangement and the possibility for citizens to convert easily the symbolic capitals of any kind on the large international space. Under "symbolical pattern of formed fears" we understand the creation during the long way of democratization the specific package of fears, characteristic of Western civilization – fears to lose freedom of choice, well-being and dignity, based on the quite developed platform of material well-being when the defense from that fears closely ties with the notion of "democracy". It is symbolical fears and the protection from them could be found in the symbolical notions. These symbolic notions could be easily embodied in Law. This idea was first mentioned in the works of the representatives of realistic school of law, that serves for the protection of the individual and the democracy. Founders of this school say that attempts of people to find such qualities as infallibility, reliability, stability, and distinctness in the positive law are only the homage to the Freud theory of authoritarian father complex.
The specific feature of this kind of democratization is the appearance of strong cosmopolitan stratum in the society, which could easily converts its symbolic capital in any country that is belonging to the total space governed by the symbolic pattern of formed fears. Yet this total space is still only a part of that big cosmopolis that Lucius Seneca seen as the world the laws of which he must use for himself instead of small countries laws, it is yet the dynamic and growing part of this future possible world polis.
The development of post-modern dimension of economics with rise of symbolization of money and power in society is providing this cosmopolitan stratum by the new sources of independence from the mother soil – information technologies and speedy means of transportation. We could list the next characteristic features of this stratum: 1) inclusion in the international social networks, and the specific here is that this inclusion means high mobility (high level of opportunity to move from one country to another without losing advantages acquired on the previous place, or, in other words, the possibility to convert easily the symbolic capital at any new place); 2) the high level of access to all advantages of well-being civilization (low cost of moving to one place from another, possibility to easy connect your relatives and friends via new means of communication, etc) 3) the high level of unification of lifestyles of the cosmopolitan representatives of several cultures (it allows to feel yourself among the others at any place as at home).
In opposing to that the new democracies are based on their specific "embodied pattern of formed fears", and the representatives of this pattern are needed more than democratic model of state arrangement to defend himself from these fears. The main fears formed on the long way of unstable development are as follows: fear to lose life; fear to lose freedom; fear to lose last property. It is embodied fears. The most clear it could be found in very popular saying of old generation in NIS countries "Only not war" (we are ready to suffer from anything and anybody if no war emerges again). The own state also may easily rob people, using or not using the law that is not more than a mean of state system - the additional famous (and still actual) Russian saying says "Don't tell that you will escape the prison and the poverty". In such a situation it's quite usual to connect the defense from these fears not with symbolical idea of state arrangement (as the state itself is alien to people); it's more safety to seek embodied protection against embodied fears – the figure of concrete politic leader.
Under this condition to develop the democratic state arrangement or not to develop is the matter of one popular person and the elite group organized around him. That's why no matter how much sanctions are imposed by the UN on Iraq or Serbia or by the EU and the USA on Belarus, in which I am writing this lines – it is only a good way to develop the popularity of Hussein, Miloshevich or Lukashenko by increasing the level of embodiment of main fears of the population.
When the democracy is possible in such a country? The democracy is possible when for governing elite is more favorable to have good relations with the West, than to have bad ones. When we have such thinking elite in power, we have a new democracy. If there is not too much rationality in the actions of the governing elite, from the point of the West, for this elite is quite natural to say the West "good bye" and to return easily to the old system of governing.
Is any classical cosmopolitanism possible in such a country, is it trying to go along the way of Democracy, or is it not? On the first decades of way of close collaboration of the political elite from new country with Western Democracies it remains unrealizable dream. The typical will be situation when well-educated person, developed the manners and adopted values came to him through the channels of education and culture, cannot afford for yourself the usage of lifestyles traditional for such level of cosmopolitan personality. Preferably the main difficulty that one has here is the limited level of access to all advantages of well-being civilization that follows in exclusion from the international social networks (to buy the ticket for the plane cost often more than ten-month salary). In the circumstances the cosmopolitanism (feeling yourself at any place as at home) converted in nihilism (feeling hatred to your own country and to the representatives of Western countries). It is often the main precondition to enliven the monsters of fostered modernization – when well-educated people not included in the governing elite, don't have the possibility to convert their symbolical capital on the international arena, and to enjoy the more natural for them lifestyles, creating the contra-elite that is hostile not only to the governing elite but, that is the worst of all, and to the country itself (see the Islamic revolution of 1979 in Iran). In case of success they are suggesting yourself on the place of former elite, continuing the tradition of embodied pattern of formed fears (as in a case of Russia, where new "democrats" under the guidance of El'tsin successfully adopted the old embodied pattern. Is Chechen war aimed to strength this one?). It is possible to say that too much such nihilistic-thinking people in the new democracy is a menace for the present of this democracy; and that too little their amount is a menace for the dream to see this country one day a really democratic country, when this people, being admitted on equal conditions to the international social mobility networks will be by the own fact of their existence, not by the will of popular political leader to maintain democracy.
The cosmopolitan stratum plays some important functions for the democratisation that could be predicted. It serves as the experimental field where most new technologies, including communication ones, are first approved before the use of them by wide public is changing the face of planet. The history of the birth of the Internet is only one example of this kind. These people also create the universal codes and patterns of actions that lately could be spread throughout the globe and find the land of plenty for itself to be used. The most obvious examples could be found in the history of great revolutions. The complex whole of ideas of human rights and inviolability of private property first circulated in the cosmopolitan circles penetrated lately in the masses and blossomed in both France, England, and England colonies in the America. The result was different because the poor French people trying to save their lives from the poor and outdated monarchy that after successful ending of revolution resulted in the attempts to create the new strong power and strong leader to relax themselves. At the same time the rich American colonists saved first of all their democratic symbolical notions that were challenged by the country that first in the Europe started to use these democratic notions. In the long run the both processes come to the end in the form of two new democracies.
Of course, one could easily found the negative examples also. The international network of proponents of Marxism resulted in the Great October Revolution, that followed by decades of totalitarianism development for Russia and creating of so-called socialist camp. But the real menace of this views and their more widespread use were overcomed only by the joint efforts of the other networks of cosmopolitan liberal and conservative thinkers, including famous Russians ones.
Some possible results with development of cosmopolitanism in NIS for the process of democratization can be overviewed by now. The best way to help the new democracy to overcome this difficulty it is maintaining the new cosmopolitan-thinking people from coming nihilistic-thinking. It means that it is necessary to create for them perhaps limited, but real channel to be included in the international social and labor networks. Perhaps, firstly it will have its logical outcome in the emigration most of them to the West, and perhaps it is not the worst thing for the new democracy, that the most dangerous decades of its fresh democratic development nobody will create contra-elite that will try to revenge its own country. The gradual changing of embodied pattern to symbolic pattern will afford them to be included in constructive way of development of this country in course of time. Polish people that have left from Poland for the West many decades ago now have a great impact on the development of real democracy in this country (one real polish man in the heart of Vatican meant for the Polish in their preference for democracy more than fullness of their libraries by Karl Marx and Lenin editions). The new fashion in Baltic countries to choose the emigrants returned recently from the West as the high officials is the additional example of this kind. And, at least, what is the cost of returning of Solzhenitcyn for the future way of development of Russia?
So, what is the role of Internet in this interplay? The Internet is functioning here like a double-headed eagle looking simultaneously at both sides. From the one side it is working as a one of channels to create contradictory to their own soil people – people, formed for democracy and cosmopolitanism but unable to enjoy its advantages and inclined to nihilism. From the other side it allows to these people to be included in the large international social networks, and to enjoy at the minimal level the advantages of high mobility via finding the places where their symbolic capital could be temporarily converted. They also creating their own personal virtual networks that join people all over the world they met during being away, establishing in that way their own small virtual cosmopolis. Therefore the Internet as a mean of globalization could play its role as one specific factor among others in the creating stable democratic society all over the world.