Nowadays, political crises and upheavals often seem to come from the periphery rather than the centre of power. Comedians, businessmen and other outsiders – think of Edward Snowden, Slawi Trifonow (the TV star who won the Bulgarian elections recently), or Donald Trump – try to disrupt power, pretending to expose political elites.
Thorns in the side of the establishment, some troublemakers manage to dominate the news and shake up the Western world like never before.
'Thorns in the side' of the establishment, some troublemakers manage to dominate the news and shake up the Western world like never before
Why is this happening? Is it a coincidence that troublemakers often disregard basic rules of democracy once they are voted into office? In response, do we need to make governmental institutions more resilient? Or could it be that we actually, to a certain extent, need outsiders to prevent our democracies from becoming too complacent?
With these questions in mind a German philosopher, Dieter Thomä, published a book in 2016 about the role of troublemakers in society and politics through the centuries, which was translated into English in 2019: Troublemakers; a Philosophy of Puer Robustus.
Thomä, a professor at the University of Sankt-Gallen, argues that every social and political system tends to produce troublemakers. Societies need to adapt to a world that is constantly changing.
But existing rules and established order cannot be adjusted so swiftly.
Therefore, it can be useful if peripheral figures enter the scene and start kicking around, asking questions others prefer to duck, forcin ..
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