The regime of ‘post-truth’: COVID-19 and the politics of knowledge

No Thumbnail Available
File version
Author(s)
Kwok, H
Singh, P
Heimans, S
Griffith University Author(s)
Primary Supervisor
Other Supervisors
Editor(s)
Date
2021
Size
File type(s)
Location
License
Abstract

The emergence of ‘post-truth’ is often associated with the rise of conspiracy theories and the lack of trust in scientific knowledge. This article attempts to theorise the complex division of labour in this regime of ‘post-truth’, with reference to the COVID-19 pandemic/infodemic. First, we argue that the ‘post-truth’ condition mirrors what Foucault called the ‘will to truth’, and that this challenges the procedures and systems by which truth and knowledge are ordered. Second, through Basil Bernstein's extension of Foucault's work, we argue that the era of post-truth has two features regarding the condition of knowledge: (1) that conflicts in the field of knowledge recontextualisation, that is, the pedagogisation of knowledge, are becoming more intense and visible, and (2) that greater exposure to high-stakes, uncertain scientific knowledge, which grows at exponential rate, increases social anxieties and leads to biopoliticisation of neoliberal responsibilisation.

Journal Title

Discourse

Conference Title
Book Title
Edition
Volume
Issue
Thesis Type
Degree Program
School
Publisher link
Patent number
Funder(s)
Grant identifier(s)
Rights Statement
Rights Statement
Item Access Status
Note

This publication has been entered as an advanced online version in Griffith Research Online.

Access the data
Related item(s)
Subject

Education

Human society

Political science

Sociology

Cultural studies

Persistent link to this record
Citation

Kwok, H; Singh, P; Heimans, S, The regime of ‘post-truth’: COVID-19 and the politics of knowledge, Discourse, 2021

Collections