Words Matter in Power Politics

The focus on the semantic function that words perform in the public political sphere has become urgent, especially when certain morally offensive and ethically objectionable words find an expression in the language of some political leaders and activists. The maltreatment that is assigned to words necessarily seeks to separate them from ideas. Words are the summary of ideas that are either negative or positive in character. For example, communally crafted words signify socio-religious obscurantism. They mark a rather murderous intolerance towards diversity and plurality. Conversely, words such as “inequality” signify the desire for equality or the word “injustice” alerts us about the need for justice.

The words, in their negative impulse for intolerance, hatred, and animosity, do not stand for a positive character. For example, communal and casteist slurs do not stand for positive ideas. On the contrary, words such as generosity and compassion have a remedial thrust in them. It is, indeed, a moral challenge to select the words that signify positive ideas, such as tolerance of the other, and even the oppositional other.