From the manifestations of culture to the underlying sensemaking process. The contribution of semiotic cultural psychology theory to the interpretation of socio-political scenario
Federico Russo
Department of History,Society and Human Studies, Università del Salento, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorTerri Mannarini
Department of History,Society and Human Studies, Università del Salento, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Sergio Salvatore
Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, University of Rome La Sapienza, Italy
Correspondence
Sergio Salvatore, Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, University of Rome La Sapienza. Italy.
Email: sergio.salvatore@uniroma1.it
Search for more papers by this authorFederico Russo
Department of History,Society and Human Studies, Università del Salento, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorTerri Mannarini
Department of History,Society and Human Studies, Università del Salento, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Sergio Salvatore
Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, University of Rome La Sapienza, Italy
Correspondence
Sergio Salvatore, Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, University of Rome La Sapienza. Italy.
Email: sergio.salvatore@uniroma1.it
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
Several explanations of the current syndrome affecting advanced democracies make reference to a process of cultural change that has been triggered by the complex and interrelated phenomena known as globalization. The rise of populist-authoritarian parties, the advent of post-truth politics and the increasing dissatisfaction with democracy are seen by many political scientists as rather direct consequences of social and economic transformations which had changed the context in which the democratic process takes place. The main limitation of this literature is that it treats culture as a black box receiving inputs from the social context and translate them into political consequences. By doing so it cannot explain why the same conditions produce different consequences in different contexts and it is silent on the criteria to develop anti-crisis policies. This article argues that some of the insights offered by the Semiotic Cultural Psychology Theory, most notably the idea that cultural evolution is moved by the need to find affect-laden, simplified interpretations of the reality to restore the capacity of making sense on an uncertain socio-political context, can enhance the ability of political scientists to understand the current political phenomena and to develop methodological criteria to counteract the current scenario of democratic crisis.
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