In Pursuit of the Political: Marcel Gauchet and the Crisis of Democratic Culture in Western Liberal Democracies in the Post-COVID Era.

This thesis examines how COVID-19 has impacted democratic culture in neoliberal societies through the lens of Marcel Gauchet’s oeuvre. It contends that the pandemic uncovered underlying crises—such as political disengagement, hyperindividualism, and civic fragmentation—and reignited tensions between autonomy and collective responsibility. The thesis critiques Marxist and Foucauldian models for their diagnostic limitations, highlighting Gauchet’s insights on modernity and the erosion of symbolic foundations in neoliberal society as a theoretical framework that can provide a more comprehensive analysis of the contemporary crisis of democracy.