Politicization of Ignorance: From the Technique of Ignorance-Producing Awareness to the Possibility of Emancipatory Awareness

Zanganeh, Peyman; Mozdkhah, Ehsan

doi:10.30465/os.2025.52469.2054

Politicization of Ignorance: From the Technique of Ignorance-Producing Awareness to the Possibility of Emancipatory Awareness

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

peyman zanganeh ¹

Ehsan Mozdkhah ²

¹ Assistant Professor of Political Science - Faculty of Literature and Humanities - University of Birjand - Birjand - Iran

² PhD student in Political Science, Faculty of Law and Political Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

10.30465/os.2025.52469.2054

Abstract

Introduction
Ignorance, traditionally perceived as a mere absence of knowledge, has evolved in modern political contexts into a strategic tool wielded by political systems to consolidate domination. This study explores the process through which ignorance is politicized, transforming it from a passive state into an active product deliberately produced and distributed within society. Drawing on Jacques Rancière’s theoretical framework, particularly his concepts of the "distribution of the sensible," "police order," and "political aesthetics," the research examines how political systems employ mechanisms such as censorship, propaganda, education, and media to institutionalize ignorance, marginalize aware subjects, and elevate those aligned with ignorance as agents of power. The central research question investigates how political systems inject and channel ignorance through the redistribution of the sensible and the resultant impact on the positioning of aware and unaware subjects. The hypothesis posits that ignorance is not a random epistemic void but a politically engineered construct that sustains the status quo by concealing non-concealed truths and suppressing critical awareness. This study aims to elucidate the interplay between ignorance, power, and resistance, highlighting the potential for aware subjects to disrupt this cycle through emancipatory acts of dissensus.
Materials and Methods
The research adopts a descriptive and analytical approach grounded in Rancière’s political philosophy. It employs a qualitative methodology, utilizing conceptual analysis to unpack the mechanisms of ignorance production and their political implications. The study integrates historical and contemporary case studies—ranging from totalitarian regimes like Nazi Germany and Stalinist Soviet Union to modern digital platforms such as social media—to illustrate the evolution of ignorance-producing techniques. Primary sources include Rancière’s seminal works (Disagreement, The Politics of Aesthetics, The Ignorant Schoolmaster) alongside secondary scholarly interpretations. The analysis also draws on empirical examples, such as propaganda campaigns, educational curricula, and digital algorithms, to demonstrate how the distribution of the sensible operates across different contexts.
Discussion and Result
The findings reveal that ignorance is systematically produced through the "police order," which regulates collective perception to conceal non-concealed truths and institutionalize ignorance as a default state. Mechanisms such as censorship (e.g., Soviet erasure of historical figures like Trotsky), propaganda (e.g., Nazi campaigns under Goebbels), selective education (e.g., North Korean curricula), and media manipulation (e.g., social media algorithms promoting misinformation) serve to redistribute the sensible, marginalizing aware subjects while empowering those who conform to ignorance-driven narratives. These mechanisms transform ignorance into a political capital that stabilizes power structures by rendering critical truths invisible. However, the study also identifies moments of "dissensus," where aware subjects—termed by Rancière as "those who have no part"—disrupt the police order through aesthetic and political acts. Historical examples, such as anti-colonial movements led by figures like Gandhi, and contemporary movements like #MeToo and climate activism led by Greta Thunberg, demonstrate how aware subjects, through acts of revelation and aesthetic reconfiguration, challenge the hegemony of ignorance. Digital platforms, while often complicit in ignorance production, also serve as spaces for resistance, amplifying dissensus through viral campaigns and grassroots mobilization. Nevertheless, resistance faces challenges, including direct suppression, social ostracism, and the fragmentation of awareness in the digital age.
Conclusion
This study underscores that ignorance is a politically engineered construct, strategically deployed through the distribution of the sensible to sustain domination. By leveraging Rancière’s framework, it demonstrates how the police order uses aesthetic-political mechanisms to produce and channel ignorance, positioning unaware subjects as agents of power while marginalizing the aware. Yet, the possibility of emancipatory awareness persists through moments of dissensus, where aesthetic interventions—ranging from protest art to digital activism—reconfigure the sensible and restore visibility to suppressed truths. The analysis reveals a dynamic tension between the reproduction of ignorance and the potential for resistance, suggesting that while political systems invest in ignorance as capital, the inherent equality of human understanding, as posited by Rancière, enables aware subjects to disrupt this cycle. The findings call for further exploration of how collective awareness can be sustained against structural barriers, offering insights into fostering democratic resistance in an era dominated by information overload and algorithmic control.

Keywords

Jacques Rancière

distribution of the sensible

police order

political ignorance

political aesthetics

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