Redigerer Whataboutism

'''Whataboutism''' (også kjent som '''whataboutery'''<ref>Ganguly, M. (2017). Engaging in Whataboutery instead of Protecting Rights. ''Brown J. World Aff.'', 24, 39. «This term does not refer to protesting inconsistencies by making a reasoned argument that presents opposing facts. Rather, whataboutery is used as a much more sinister challenge to human rights: the practice wherein perpetrators of violations, or their supporters, do not deny the abuses, but instead justify them and shout down criticism by citing the wrongdoings of their victims. All too often, they absolve collective punishment through whataboutery. »</ref><ref>Little, A., & Rogers, J. B. (2017). The politics of ‘whataboutery’: The problem of trauma trumping the political in conflictual societies. ''The British Journal of Politics and International Relations,'' 19(1), 172-187. «‘Whataboutery’ is a term used to refer to the propensity of political actors to allude to the victims, or families of victims, who have suffered great loss in violent events as a means of suggesting that their deprivation is more significant than and transcends subsequent political development. In Northern Ireland, for example, where so much political discourse has been conducted as a ‘zero-sum game’, it is not unusual to hear political actors speak of acts of violence to negate political developments which they oppose. The lament of ‘what about Bloody Sunday?’ or ‘what about Enniskillen?’ became commonplace through the process of change and subsequent political developments.»</ref>) er en diskusjons- og [[propaganda]]teknikk som har til hensikt å diskreditere en motstanders påstand ved å rette en anklage tilbake om [[hykleri]], uten direkte å motbevise eller avkrefte deres argument.<ref>{{Kilde www|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/08/the-soviet-era-strategy-that-explains-what-russia-is-doing-with-snowden/278314/|tittel=The Soviet-Era Strategy That Explains What Russia Is Doing With Snowden|besøksdato=2023-10-28|dato=2013-08-02|fornavn=Olga|etternavn=Khazan|språk=en|verk=The Atlantic}}</ref><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4">{{Kilde artikkel|tittel=How Autocrats Manipulate Online Information: Putin’s and Xi’s Playbooks|publikasjon=The Washington Quarterly|doi=10.1080/0163660X.2021.1970902|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0163660X.2021.1970902|dato=2021-07-03|fornavn=Jessica|etternavn=Brandt|serie=|språk=en|bind=44|hefte=3|sider=127–154|issn=0163-660X|besøksdato=2023-10-28}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Kilde artikkel|tittel=After Trump: Enemies, Partisans, and Recovery|publikasjon=Political Science Quarterly|doi=10.1002/polq.13242|url=https://doi.org/10.1002/polq.13242|dato=2021|fornavn=Christopher J.|etternavn=Fettweis|serie=|bind=136|hefte=4|sider=667–687|issn=0032-3195|besøksdato=2023-10-28|sitat=The Soviet Self-Defense: “Whataboutism”: The easiest way to defend one’s position is to deflect all responsibility by pointing out the failings of the other side. It is also one of the most pointless. When Israelis and Palestinians are asked about the various evils perpetrated by their countrymen, for example, they usually respond with some version of this rhetorical formula: yes, that is obviously terrible, but you have to understand the context and history (insert terrible thing done by the other side). This “yes… but” construction allows partisans to distract and change the subject, putting the debate on more comfortable ground.}}</ref> Whataboutism tåkelegger det vesentlige, skaper uklarhet eller avleder oppmerksomheten ved å snakke om noe annet.<ref name=":6" /><ref>{{Kilde oppslagsverk|tittel=Deny and Conquer: Fears of Looking like a “Pussy State”|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3998/mpub.12237294.8|utgiver=University of Michigan Press|oppslagsverk=Creating Chaos Online|dato=2022|besøksdato=2024-05-11|isbn=978-0-472-07552-2|side=220–254|doi=10.3998/mpub.12237294.8|fornavn=Asta|etternavn=Zelenkauskaitė}}</ref> Analyser av fenonment whataboutism regnes som del av det filosofiske feltet uformell logikk.<ref name=":7" />  

Whataboutism kan være en form for [[ad hominem-argument]] eller [[Ad hominem-argument|''tu quoque'']] for eksempel i form av «ja, men hvor var du da...» eller «hvorfor kritisere bare A og ikke B».<ref>Jones, M. O. (2022). ''Digital authoritarianism in the Middle East: Deception, disinformation and social media.'' Hurst Publishers.</ref><ref>Borovali, M. (2018). Ad hominem argumentation in politics. ''Philosophy & Social Criticism'', 44(4), 426-436.«The above discussed consequences can also be encountered following a similar form of ad hominem response. The reply to the criticism or condemnation in such cases is formulated in a way that completes the following rhetorical question: “where were you when...?” Here, the critic is accused of having been silent in the face of comparable act(s) in the past. Having omitted to condemn previous similar instances, she is now accused of engaging in a certain “motivated selectiveness.”2 The current situation is argued to be “conveniently” selected for condemnation, thereby suggesting an inconsistent implementation of the principles that should underly the moral stance of the critic. The critic is accused of choosing the instance in question for denunciation while disregarding similar acts which should also be objectionable from the expressed standpoint of the critic. In light of this “selectiveness,” it is held that the denouncer is engaging in hypocrisy, as the adopted moral principles are not wholeheartedly embraced in reality. »</ref> Whataboutism fungerer som en avledningsmanøver eller skifte av tema<ref>{{Kilde avis|tittel=Sympathise with Israel, but not the blockade|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/jun/06/israel-gaza-blockade|avis=The Observer|dato=2010-06-05|besøksdato=2024-05-11|issn=0029-7712|språk=en-GB|fornavn=Nick|etternavn=Cohen}}</ref><ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Kilde avis|tittel=Ja? Du, da?|avis=morgenbladet.no|url=https://morgenbladet.no/ideer/2018/10/erna-solbergs-whataboutism|besøksdato=2018-10-16|etternavn=|fornavn=|dato=2018-10-10|side=|språk=nb|sitat=Avledningsmanøveren: Når statsministeren selv er gjenstand for kritikk, så avleder hun ved å hevde at noen andre også har gjort noe galt.}}</ref><ref>{{Kilde artikkel|tittel=Bangladeshi Politicians, the People, and Whataboutism|publikasjon=Crossings: A Journal of English Studies|doi=10.59817/cjes.v9i.104|url=https://journals.ulab.edu.bd/index.php/crossings/article/view/104|dato=2018-08-01|fornavn=Shahinul|etternavn=Islam|språk=en|bind=9|sider=45–50|issn=2958-3179|besøksdato=2023-10-28}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Kilde artikkel|tittel=Challenging the EU’s claim to moral authority: Russian talk of ‘double standards’|publikasjon=Asia Europe Journal|doi=10.1007/s10308-015-0417-y|url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s10308-015-0417-y|dato=2015-09-01|fornavn=James|etternavn=Headley|serie=|språk=en|bind=13|hefte=3|sider=297–307|issn=1612-1031|besøksdato=2023-10-28}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> og involverer ofte tilsynelatende relevante eller direkte villedende analogier som kan være vanskelig å argumentere mot. Whataboutism er tankevekkende poeng som gir tilsynelatende balanse og bredere perspektiv, samtidig skaper det uklarhet om skyld og ansvar ved en moralsk relativisering.<ref>{{Kilde www|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/02/07/the-slippery-slope-of-trumps-dangerous-whataboutism-russia-putin-american-exceptionalism/|tittel=The Slippery Slope of Trump’s Dangerous ‘Whataboutism’|besøksdato=2023-10-28|dato=2017-02-07|fornavn=Jake|etternavn=Sullivan|språk=en-US|verk=Foreign Policy|sitat=“Whataboutism,” with its sly equivalences, false parallels, and misleading analogies, can exhaust and frustrate those who confront it}}</ref><ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Kilde www|url=https://www.cjr.org/q_and_a/kasparov-trump-russia-propaganda.php|tittel=Q&A: Garry Kasparov on the press and propaganda in Trump’s America|besøksdato=2023-10-28|dato=22. mars 2017|fornavn=Michael|etternavn=Judge|språk=en|verk=Columbia Journalism Review}}</ref><ref>{{Kilde www|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/watch-john-oliver-break-down-trumps-three-dangerous-manipulation-tactics-116113/|tittel=See John Oliver Break Down Trump's Three Dangerous Manipulation Tactics|besøksdato=2023-10-28|dato=2017-11-13|fornavn=Sarah|etternavn=Grant|språk=en-US|verk=Rolling Stone}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Kilde artikkel|tittel=Silencing the contestant. Legitimizing Crimea’s annexation by mimicking the West|publikasjon=European Security|doi=10.1080/09662839.2019.1688303|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09662839.2019.1688303|dato=2020-01-02|fornavn=Vasile|etternavn=Rotaru|serie=|språk=en|bind=29|hefte=1|sider=96–118|issn=0966-2839|besøksdato=2023-10-28|sitat=These examples used in comparison with actions in Crimea show that besides emulating compliance with international rules and norms, Russia is also trying to relativise the violation of the international law by accusing the West (its contestant) of similar deeds. This phenomenon is an illustration of what many experts define as “whataboutism” – a form of moral relativism that responds to criticism with a simple response: “but you do it too” (Conradi Citation2017, p. 282).}}</ref> Typisk for den [[Sovjetunionen|sovjetiske]] varianten var å peke på at alle var skyldig i noe og på den måten ble det underforstått sagt at ingen var spesielt skyldig i noe.<ref name=":5" /> Den var så vanlig under Sovjetunionen at det ble regnet som en typisk sovjetisk propagandateknikk.<ref name=":6" /> Whataboutism kan fungere som en relativsering<ref>{{Kilde www|url=https://www.dw.com/en/hamas-attacks-on-israel-triggers-debate-in-germany/a-67047140|tittel=Hamas attacks on Israel triggers debate in Germany – DW – 10/09/2023|besøksdato=2024-05-11|språk=en|verk=dw.com}}</ref> eller apologisme.<ref>{{Kilde www|url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/is-there-an-appropriate-response-to-discussing-israel-palestine/|tittel=Can we be honest about Israel and Palestine?|besøksdato=2024-05-11|dato=2023-10-16|fornavn=Sam|etternavn=Leith|språk=en-US|verk=The Spectator}}</ref>

Whataboutism regnes som en logisk svikt eller [[tankefeil]] ved at henvisning til lignende handlinger eller hendelser ikke gjør påstand om den fokuserte saken usann. Moralfilosofisk vil handlinger av en aktør ikke gjøre handlinger av en annen aktør moralsk legitime, skriver Eliav Lieblich, for eksempel legitimerer ikke vestlige lands hykleri at uskyldige dør i [[krigen i Ukraina]].<ref name=":7" />

== Eksempler ==
Teknikken er kjent særlig fra [[Sovjetunionen|sovjetisk]]<ref>Gessen, K. (2014). What's the Matter with Russia: Putin and the Soviet Legacy. ''Foreign Affairs'', 93, 182. «When Putin wants to appeal to Russian patriotism, he invokes Stalin's triumph in World War II rather than the achievements of the less tyrannical leaders who followed Stalin. More broadly, Russian political elites have clearly decided that they will no longer beat themselves up for the sins of the past -- after all, other countries have sinned, too, they like to note, in the style of classic Soviet "whataboutism."»</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /> og [[Russland|russisk]] propaganda.<ref>Szostek, J. (2017). The power and limits of Russia’s strategic narrative in Ukraine: The role of linkage. ''Perspectives on Politics'', 15(2), 379-395. «Disinformation and “whataboutism” undoubtedly featurestronglyinRussianstate-sponsoredmediacontent, but from this it would be wrong to conclude that the Russian leadership has no interest in persuading international audiences and seeks only to “dismiss, distort, distract and dismay.”47 For years, a highly consistent narrative has run through the content of Russian statecontrolled media and ofﬁcial statements. The narrative problematizes American or Western “hypocrisy” and “interference”; blames these traits for global instability; and advocates a “multipolar” world as the optimal solution, in which non-Western states such as Russia would balance American power.48 »</ref><ref>{{Kilde artikkel|tittel=What's the Matter With Russia? Putin and the Soviet Legacy|publikasjon=Foreign Affairs|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24483570|dato=2014|fornavn=Keith|etternavn=Gessen|redaktør-fornavn=William|redaktør-etternavn=Zimmerman|redaktør2-etternavn=Figes|redaktør2-fornavn=Orlando|serie=4|bind=93|sider=182–189|issn=0015-7120|besøksdato=2024-05-11}}</ref> Da det ble rettet kritikk, f.eks. fra [[USA]] mot [[Sovjetunionen]] om brudd på menneskerettighetene i landet, kunne det sovjetiske svaret være: «Hva med USA? Dere lynsjer de svarte.» («what about…»).<ref>{{Kilde www|url=http://www.economist.com/node/10598774|tittel=Whataboutism|besøksdato=2017-12-17|verk=The Economist}}</ref>  [[Vladimir Putin]] er kjent for bruk av whataboutism særlig fra 2012 for eksempel ved å peke på USAs [[Irak-krigen|invasjon av Irak i 2003]]. Da en journalist i 2014 utfordret Putin om [[Russlands anneksjon av Krim i 2014|annekteringen av Krim]] svarte Putin med snakke om USAs annektering av [[Texas]] i 1845.<ref>{{Kilde www|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/02/07/the-slippery-slope-of-trumps-dangerous-whataboutism-russia-putin-american-exceptionalism/|tittel=The Slippery Slope of Trump’s Dangerous ‘Whataboutism’|besøksdato=2023-10-28|dato=2017-02-07|fornavn=Jake|etternavn=Sullivan|språk=en-US|verk=Foreign Policy|sitat=When Western governments condemned Putin’s crackdown on the post-election protests, “Kremlin officials were ready with: ‘What about the United Kingdom? Breaking the law during public gatherings there could lead to fine of 5,800 pounds sterling or even prison.’”}}</ref><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Kilde avis|tittel=Opinion {{!}} Israel, Gaza and Double Standards, Including Our Own|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/02/opinion/israel-gaza-double-standard.html|avis=The New York Times|dato=2024-03-02|besøksdato=2024-05-11|issn=0362-4331|språk=en-US|fornavn=Nicholas|etternavn=Kristof}}</ref> Putin brukte whataboutism da han 24. februar 2022 begrunnet [[Russlands invasjon av Ukraina 2022|invasjonen av Ukraina]] blant annet med henvisning til at vestlige stater hadde gjort tilsvarende tidligere.<ref name=":7">Lieblich, Eliav (2024): Whataboutism in International Law. ''Harvard International Law Journal'', Vol. 65, No. 2.</ref>

Whataboutism er en kjent taktikk fra diskusjoner på internett, ofte igangsatt av såkalte [[Trolling (Internett)|troll]]. Taktikken er kjent fra troll som støtter det russiske regimet under Putin og fra høyreorienterte nettverk som driver desinformasjon.<ref name=":6">{{Kilde oppslagsverk|tittel=Divide and Conquer: Exploiting Political Polarization|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3998/mpub.12237294.5|utgiver=University of Michigan Press|oppslagsverk=Creating Chaos Online|dato=2022|besøksdato=2024-05-11|isbn=978-0-472-07552-2|side=81–126|doi=10.3998/mpub.12237294.5|fornavn=Asta|etternavn=Zelenkauskaitė}}</ref> 

{{sitat|In whataboutism the assumption is that all actions share moral equivalency. And since nobody is perfect, all criticisms are hypocritical, and everybody should be doing whatever they want.|[[John Oliver]] (2017)<ref name=":6" />}}
Whataboutism er kjent fra diskusjoner som omhandler forholdet mellom [[Israel]] og palestinere. I forholdet mellom Israel og palestinere har argumentet ofte formen «ja, det er forferdelig, men dette må forstås på bakgrunn av....».<ref name=":5" /> Etter [[Angrepet på Israel oktober 2023|terrorangrepet mot Israel i oktober 2023]] var det i debatten, ifølge ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' og ''[[The Atlantic]],'' en del argumentasjon som ikke kunne ganske enkelt konstatere at angrepet var en forbrytelse uten samtidig å peke på Netanhayu, skylde på ofrene og eller nevne Israels politikk.<ref>{{Kilde www|url=https://www.latimes.com/opinion/newsletter/2023-10-14/opinion-newsletter-hamas-attack-israel-palestinian-suffering-opinion|tittel=The disgusting 'whataboutism' after Hamas' attack on Israel|besøksdato=2023-10-28|dato=2023-10-14|språk=en-US|verk=Los Angeles Times}}</ref><ref>{{Kilde www|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/10/hamas-pop-intersectionality-leftism-israel/675625/|tittel=The Progressives Who Flunked the Hamas Test|besøksdato=2024-05-11|dato=2023-10-13|fornavn=Helen|etternavn=Lewis|språk=en|verk=The Atlantic}}</ref>  [[Ehud Barak]] kritiserte for eksempel i en kronikk i ''New York Times'' [[Benjamin Netanyahu]] for å drive whataboutism i sin polemikk.<ref>{{Kilde avis|tittel=Opinion {{!}} We Must Save Israel From Its Government|avis=New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/01/opinion/ehud-barak-israel-netanyahu.html|besøksdato=2018-08-09|etternavn=Barak|fornavn=Ehud|dato=1. desember 2017|side=|språk=en|sitat=}}</ref> 

[[Donald Trump]] er kjent for å bruk whataboutismer.<ref name=":2">{{Kilde avis|tittel=Whataboutism: The Cold War tactic, thawed by Putin, is brandished by Donald Trump|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/whataboutism-what-about-it/2017/08/17/4d05ed36-82b4-11e7-b359-15a3617c767b_story.html|avis=Washington Post|dato=2023-04-08|besøksdato=2023-10-28|issn=0190-8286|språk=en-US|fornavn=Dan|etternavn=Zak|sitat=His campaign may or may not have conspired with Moscow, but President Trump has routinely employed a durable old Soviet propaganda tactic. Tuesday’s bonkers news conference in New York was Trump’s latest act of “whataboutism,” the practice of short-circuiting an argument by asserting moral equivalency between two things that aren’t necessarily comparable.}}</ref><ref>Saresma, T., Karkulehto, S., Varis, P. (2021). Gendered Violence Online: Hate Speech as an Intersection of Misogyny and Racism. In: Husso, M., Karkulehto, S., Saresma, T., Laitila, A., Eilola, J., Siltala, H. (eds): ''Violence, Gender and Affect . Palgrave Studies in Victims and Victimology''. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56930-3_11</ref><ref name=":1">{{Kilde avis|tittel=For the Court of Public Opinion, Trump Relies on a ‘Whataboutism’ Defense|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/02/us/politics/trump-indictment-hunter-biden.html|avis=The New York Times|dato=2023-08-02|besøksdato=2023-10-28|issn=0362-4331|språk=en-US|fornavn=Peter|etternavn=Baker|sitat=The wave of whataboutism from Trump world crested with this week’s indictment but has been building for months, a way of shifting attention from the former president’s kaleidoscopic legal troubles.}}</ref> Kinesiske myndigheter har i enkelte tilfeller brukt taktikken for å unnvike kritikk av menneskrettsbrudd i landet.<ref name=":4" /> Da [[Ungarn]] i 2023 ble kritisert av andre land for sine lover mot [[LHBT|LHBTQ]], svarte ungarske myndigheter med å vise til narkotikaproblemer i Nederland, bandekriger i Sverige og urettferdige valg i USA.<ref name=":7" />

== Referanser ==
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