Theory & Event· 2026Q1
The Collapse of Shame: Corruption as Genre in a Post-Truth Age. Toward a Cultural Theory of Public Impunity
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- 2026year
Short summary
Corruption today functions as a public performance of power and sovereignty, rather than a hidden scandal, signaling a collapse of shame and the rise of public impunity.
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Key points
- Corruption now operates as a public genre, not a hidden scandal.
- Shame has collapsed into spectacle, allowing corruption to signal power openly.
- Impunity is demonstrated through public performance, asserting sovereignty.
- Corruption, shame, and impunity are interconnected, forming a new circuitry.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Abstract: This essay argues that corruption today functions not as scandal but as genre—performed, aestheticized, and infrastructurally sustained. In an era where shame collapses and impropriety becomes spectacle, corruption no longer hides: it signals power. Impunity now takes shape as public demonstration, staged and circulated as proof of sovereignty. Corruption, shame, and impunity form a new circuitry: corruption provides the recognizable form, shame recedes into spectacle, and impunity choreographs authority through performance. To understand democratic erosion today, we must analyze and expose this choreography—not only legally, but culturally, emotionally, and structurally.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Theory & Event, 2026 · DOI ↗
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Field: Law
LawSocial Sciences