Obscure Indignation – Hegel, Adorno, Vogl

This article traces a problem linked to political mobilizations that are based on the affect of indignation. It first shows that indignation is an affect that occurs with those who feel that an injustice has been done to them by the society of which they are a part (this is Hegel’s argument). It then shows how this affect can be mobilized for counter-emancipatory and even reactionary political ends (this is Adorno’s account of right-wing extremism). A key-feature of this mobilization is that the target of indignation itself is obscured. Finally, the article examines an account of the most recent form obscure indignation took on in online-forums and through platforms that themselves fulfil a reproductive function within contemporary capitalism (this is Vogl’s account of resentment). These three steps allow the article to show that indignation has become a weapon that hinders and does not aim at emancipation.