Secrecy and the force of truth: countering post-truth regimes

Post-truth regimes are disconcerting to the extent that they confuse the distinction between true and false and thus obfuscate and obstruct political debate. And they dismantle the secret by imitating its habit: they constantly make claims while leaving us to guess what exactly the true content is – or whether there is any content at all. In an imagined world without secrets, there would be no curiosity or confidentiality, no sincerity or trust, and no political possibility of thinking otherwise. Analysis of the logic of secrecy, the article argues, helps us to revisit the established confidence in our culture in the force of truth, and to confront a challenge post-truth regimes pose: that to establish truth involves affective force. Contrary to the common belief that truth – and secrecy – is something to be revealed, a Foucauldian reading suggests that to mobilize truth requires both truthfulness and a moment of creation. Truth relies on the secret but will always only emerge on the surface.