The politics of enmity as the genealogy of post-truth

Abstract

This article explores the genealogy of post-truth by situating it within the framework of a politics of enmity. We analyse how this phenomenon, often perceived as a threat to liberal democracy, emerges from an epistemic and political crisis linked to the questioning of traditional authorities of knowledge production. Drawing on thinkers such as Foucault, Arendt, Mbembe and Schmitt, we show that post-truth is not simply a rejection of truth, but a reconfiguration of the relationship between power, knowledge and emotions in a context of social fragmentation and distrust of institutions. The study traces the evolution of post-truth from its media origins to its political instrumentalization. It highlights the role of social media in amplifying epistemic bubbles, where emotion supplants rationality. We also question the impact of (neo)liberalism and emotional capitalism in this dynamic, emphasizing how the data economy fuels polarization of discourse. Finally, the article offers a critical reading of post-truth as a symptom of a political order in crisis, where representative democracy is undermined by oligarchic logic and a war of narratives. Rather than a simple break with truth, post-truth reveals the contradictions of a system where knowledge and power remain inextricably linked.