58

The economic crisis and the ecological crisis are operating in a similar way: in both cases, the peoples are being denied their democratic right to express their will, on the pretext that the subjects discussed are too complex to be left to those who are not “experts” or apparently competent on the matter. In both cases, there is an institutional shift towards postdemocratic procedures that empty of their substance the principles of a vibrant and living democracy. In both cases, rationality understood as “wisdom” is denied in favour of a purely instrumental and technician rationality. This article describes the common functionalism applying to both of these crises and shows to what extent this situation calls for a renewal of the ethical dimension of politics.