Fear and Dispossession

The pandemic has represented the return of ‘large-scale death’ on the public scene of the world. This essay analyzes the nexus between fear, society, and politics in general terms and, more specifically, in the time of pandemics. The fear of self-dispossession is identified as a feature common to contemporary societies. The COVID-19 crisis has emphasized this fear and has limited the opportunities for enjoying personal liberties and rights. Within this context, the essay maintains that an important role can be played by a vigorous re-proposal of the principle of ‘self-belonging’, understood as, on the one hand, the aspiration that one’s dignity be respected, and, on the other, that the irreducibility and inviolability of the Self be recognized. This principle can serve as the foundation for not only an existential perspective of the liberty and relationality of the individual, but also a vision of society based upon respect for basic universal rights and a democratic practice which extends from the local to the global level. The principle of self-belonging is seen as an alternative to the authoritarian and paternalistic approaches to the pandemic crisis.