ABSTRACT
Public assemblies play a major role in current politics. On the one hand, the Arab Spring and the Occupy movement have generated hope on the left. On the other hand, many countries are experiencing a surge of right-wing populism. Considering both developments as driven by the power of public assemblies, this article addresses the ontology and ethics of public assemblies. In terms of ontology, it investigates the conditions under which public assemblies unfold their power. In terms of ethics, it discusses possible criteria for a normative evaluation of public assemblies. The discussion is guided by Hannah Arendt’s theory of acting together in the public sphere and Judith Butler’s performative theory of assemblies. However, it will be shown that the ontology and ethics of public assemblies turn out to be more intricate than they anticipated. First, whereas Arendt (and Butler) focused on assemblies that are constituted by bodily co-presence, processes of digitalization raise new questions about the constitution of public spheres beyond the dichotomy of direct and indirect gatherings. Second, current political polarization suggests that strategies of public assembly, far from following an intrinsic normative trajectory, are ethically neutral tools that can be deployed for various political purposes.
