What Does “Post-Truth” Mean?
The term post-truth refers to a cultural and political condition where emotions, beliefs, and personal opinions take precedence over objective facts and truth in shaping public discourse and decision-making. In a post-truth environment, truth becomes malleable, with the following characteristics:
1. Deprioritization of Facts: Objective facts are overshadowed by appeals to emotion or personal belief.
2. Truth as Subjective: Truth is framed as relative or dependent on individual perspective rather than being universal or verifiable.
3. Manipulation of Information: The deliberate spread of misinformation or “alternative facts” undermines shared reality.
4. Digital Amplification: The rise of social media and algorithm-driven platforms accelerates the spread of misinformation and polarizes public discourse.
This phenomenon is often associated with contemporary political events, like the Brexit campaign or the 2016 U.S. presidential election, but it also reflects broader cultural shifts in how truth and authority are constructed.
What Would Foucault Say About Post-Truth?
Michel Foucault, who explored the relationships between truth, power, and discourse, would not have been surprised by the post-truth condition. He would likely analyze it as a development within broader historical and societal processes, rather than lamenting it as a radical break. Here’s how his ideas might intersect with the concept:
1. Truth as a Product of Power and Discourse
• Foucault argued that truth is not a universal, fixed concept but is produced within specific power relations and discursive practices. He called this the “regime of truth”, which refers to the institutionalized systems that define and validate what counts as “truth” in a given society.
• In a post-truth era, competing regimes of truth emerge, where traditional authorities (e.g., science, journalism) lose their monopoly on truth-making. Instead, truth becomes fragmented and contested across multiple platforms, often shaped by economic and political interests.
• Foucault’s Perspective: Post-truth is not the absence of truth but a transformation of how truth is produced and legitimized. It reflects the decentralization of traditional regimes of truth.
2. The Role of Media and Technology
• Foucault’s analysis of media and knowledge production would be highly relevant to understanding the role of digital platforms in post-truth dynamics. He might argue that:
• Social media amplifies “subjugated knowledges” (marginalized or unofficial truths) but also creates space for misinformation and manipulation.
• Algorithms and data-driven platforms operate as new forms of power, shaping what people see and believe, thereby creating digital regimes of truth.
• Foucault’s Perspective: Post-truth exemplifies how power operates through knowledge and technology, producing fragmented and competing truths rather than a unified, objective reality.
3. Truth, Emotion, and Subjectivity
• Post-truth culture often prioritizes emotion and personal experience over rationality and objectivity. Foucault would see this as consistent with his view that power operates not only through institutions but also by shaping individuals’ desires, emotions, and subjectivities.
• He might explore how emotional appeals and identity politics serve as tools of power, displacing traditional truth claims with narratives that resonate on a personal or affective level.
• Foucault’s Perspective: Post-truth highlights the interplay between power, emotion, and subjectivity, demonstrating how truth is shaped by personal and collective desires.
4. Critique of Enlightenment Rationality
• Foucault was critical of Enlightenment ideals of universal reason and objective truth, which he saw as historically contingent and complicit in systems of domination. He might view post-truth as a symptom of the failure of Enlightenment rationality to address the complexities of modern power and communication.
• Foucault’s Perspective: Post-truth could be seen as a rejection of traditional “truth regimes” that claimed neutrality but were often tied to systems of power.
5. Resistance and the Question of Ethics
• Foucault’s later work focused on ethics and the cultivation of the self as a way to resist domination. In a post-truth world, where misinformation thrives and truth is contested, Foucault might argue for a renewed focus on critical practices:
• The need to critically examine how truths are produced and validated.
• The importance of fostering an ethical relationship to truth, where individuals engage with information responsibly and reflectively.
• Foucault’s Perspective: Resistance in a post-truth era requires cultivating ethical practices that question dominant truth claims while remaining vigilant against manipulation.
What Foucault Might Warn Against
1. Nostalgia for Objective Truth:
Foucault would caution against idealizing the past as a time of objective truth, pointing out that previous truth regimes were also shaped by power and exclusion.
2. Moral Panic over Relativism:
He would argue that claims of “post-truth” are not evidence of truth’s disappearance but of changing dynamics in how truth is constructed and contested.
3. Ignoring New Power Mechanisms:
Foucault would emphasize the importance of analyzing the new mechanisms of power and control that shape truth in the digital age, such as algorithms, social media platforms, and corporate interests.
Conclusion
Foucault would see post-truth not as a crisis of truth itself but as a transformation in the production and regulation of truth within society. He would urge us to analyze the power relations, discursive practices, and technologies that shape post-truth dynamics, while also fostering ethical practices of critical inquiry and resistance. For Foucault, the task is not to return to an idealized era of objectivity but to critically engage with how truth operates in the present and to imagine new possibilities for resistance and freedom.
