The Incompatibility of Deliberative Democracy and Religion

In The Ethical Soundscape, Hirschkind offers an interesting account of the relationship between cassette sermons and modern (at the time of his writing) Islamic practice in Egypt. I found his discussion of the intersubjective relationship between the rhetor and listener to be quite interesting. I particularly enjoyed his discussion of the agency of the listener and that the listener had to already be "rightly disposed" for "the sensorially rich experience of inshirah" to occur (72). I found this aspect of his argument and explanation of the utility of tapes for religious inculcation to be particularly convincing.

However, I did not find Hirschkind's argument  throughout the entirety of the book as convincing. His discussion of the counterpublic was a bit confusing, as well as misguided. In the chapter on cassettes and counterpublics, Hirschkind described that the counterpublic sphere was both normative and deliberative (Hirschkind 116, 113). Throughout the chapter he seems to extol the virtues of deliberative democracy and discusses the arguments(deliberations) that take place between members of this counterpublic to be beneficial. He does not seem to consider the negative features associated with a deliberative form of democracy. Chantal Mouffe offers an argument against deliberative forms of democracy, and explains that in deliberative democracy there is an attempt to reach consensus through communicative reasoning. When attempting to achieve consensus in deliberative democracy the constitutive role of power in social relations tends to be ignored. Mouffe contends that ignorance towards power and attempt for consensus creates a situation in which only one side can achieve legitimacy, setting the stakes of argument at survival. Accordingly, in deliberative democracy pluralism is ignored and disagreements quickly reach a stalemate (Mouffe).

This conception of deliberative forms of democracy is particularly relevant when examining religion and Islam in particular. When the stakes of disagreement over a core value system are set at survival there are likely to be extreme consequences. With this in mind, perhaps Hirschkind should reconsider his view of the benefits of cassette tapes and their ability to create a regime of deliberation.

Hirschkind, Charles. The Ethical Soundscape. New York: Columbia University Press, 2006. 

Mouffe, Chantal. "For an Agonistic Model of Democracy ." The Democratic Paradox. London: Verso, 2000. 80-105.