Framing ‘fear for the future’ as a concept to study the subjectification of youth and university students: An introduction

Abstract

Democracy has been touted as an essential condition for development. Yet, the tremors of undemocratic practices, including the routinisation of violence and fear, can be felt in the functioning of democracies across the globe. While dissent and debate have been celebrated as the pillars of democracy, the erosion of both has not gone unnoticed. By framing the concept of ‘fear of the future’, this paper explores how fear can be operationalised to dissuade youth and young students from exercising dissent and instead be ‘good’ citizens with ‘bright futures’. I argue that the notion of ‘success’ prompts these newly minted citizens to stay away from protests as there can be potential harm that can befall the individual. I use Butler’s ‘grievable bodies’ as a framework to engender the epistemological capacity of the state to make examples of dissenters to subjectifyFootnote1 the mass and draw the contours of what falls within and beyond the norms defined by the state.