The Idea
The claim maintains that peoples possess latent democratic potential, but that it does not automatically become a political reality. What is meant is that the tendency toward participation, representation, and choice exists, yet structures of domination obstruct its emergence and prevent it from becoming effective institutions. Democracy here is not absent in principle; rather, it is concealed by historical and political conditions.
Concise Formulation
Peoples: possess latent democratic potential
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
This statement occupies an important place in the book’s argument because it shifts the discussion from describing blockage to searching for a capacity for change within societies themselves. It does not separate this potential from political critique, but links it to reopening the public sphere. In this way, the claim becomes part of a vision that sees social history as a field of struggle, not a closed prison.
Why It Matters
Its importance lies in the fact that it offers the reader a non-deterministic view of society. Rather than saying that democracy is culturally impossible, the text opens the way to conceiving it as a blocked possibility. This is directly connected to Arkoun’s way of reading the present: diagnosis is not meant to condemn, but to reveal what can be recovered.
Brief Evidence
The claim maintains that peoples possess latent democratic potential, but that it does not automatically become a political reality. The tendency toward participation, representation, and choice exists, yet structures of domination obstruct its emergence and prevent it from becoming effective institutions. For this reason, democracy here is not absent in principle; rather, it is concealed by historical and political conditions.
Reading Questions
- What is meant by latent potential: a political desire or a social structure?
- What prevents this potential from becoming actual practice?
Degree of Documentation
High: the claim appears in a clear passage from the book’s material.