SILENT CONFORMISM: A CONCEPT ON THE EMPTYING OF POLITICS

Abstract

This article proposes and develops the concept of silent conformity, understood as a contemporary form of subjective and collective withdrawal from the public sphere. It is a phenomenon characterized by political disengagement that does not manifest as explicit adherence to the status quo, but as normalized passivity that empties freedom as action. The formulation of the concept results from a critical articulation of the contributions of Hannah Arendt, Herbert Marcuse, Adorno, Horkheimer, Zygmunt Bauman, and Antonio Gramsci, whose analyses are reinterpreted to explain current phenomena of political demobilization. The study adopts a qualitative and bibliographical methodology, analyzing how silent conformity emerges from the combination of the collapse of the public sphere, the absorption of criticism by the system, the pedagogy of consensus, and the liquefaction of social bonds. It differs from concepts such as apathy, alienation, or depoliticization, as it describes a state in which there is partial critical awareness, but action is replaced by silent adaptation. The article also identifies manifestations of this phenomenon in different spheres: on social media, where engagement is limited to symbolic performances; in the workplace, with the acceptance of unfair norms in exchange for stability; in education, through the uncritical reproduction of content; and in urban spaces, through the naturalization of violence and exclusion. By proposing this original theoretical category, the article seeks to provide an analytical tool capable of diagnosing mechanisms that discourage action, paving the way for future research and practices that reactivate the political meaning of collective action.