Politics of Dialogue
Non-consensual Democracy and Critical Community
Will be published approx. on 30. June 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
184 pages
978-1-3995-6592-9 (ISBN)
Description
Contemporary democracy is in crisis. People believe less and less in a system of democratic institutions that can cope with today's social problems. Leszek Koczanowicz sheds new light on this problem, using the ideas of M. M. Bakhtin and others to show that dialogue in democracy can transcend both antagonistic and consensual perspectives.After an overview of the history of the dialogue/ antagonism opposition as it is embedded in modern political theory, and the concept of dialogue in contemporary political theory, the author moves on to demonstrate that Bakhtin's theory of dialogue can introduce a new quality into political theory, allowing us to overcome the liberalism/ communitarianism debate. To conclude, he introduces a concept of 'critical community' to show that collective identities can be constructed in critical dialogue with the tradition and values of community.
Reviews / Votes
Drawing on the resources of the American pragmatist tradition, Bakhtin's dialogic notion of interaction, and his own experiences in post-Communist Eastern Europe, the distinguished Polish political theorist Leszek Koczanowiz enters the current conversation about the nature of democracy with a new and arresting argument. Contesting wan proceduralism and the telos of deliberative consensus, he offers instead a model of a critical community that emerges out of the practices of everyday life and fosters the understanding of difference rather than the demand for full agreement. -- Martin Jay, University of California, BerkeleyMore details
Edition
New in Paperback
Language
English
Place of publication
Edinburgh
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-3995-6592-9 (9781399565929)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Leszek Koczanowicz is Professor of Philosophy and Political Science in the SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Wroclaw, Poland. He is the author of Anxiety and Lucidity: Reflections on Culture in Times of Unrest. Routledge, 2020, Politics of Dialogue: Non-Consensual Democracy and Critical Community, Edinburgh University Press, 2016, Politics of Time: Dynamics of Identity in Post-Communist Poland Berghahn Books, 2008, Analyses of Human Action (Wroclaw University Press, 1990), G.H. Mead (Wroclaw University Press, 1992), Individual - Activity - Society: The Concept of the Self in American Pragmatism (Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of Polish Academy of Science Press, 1994), Community and Emancipations. The Discussion of the Post-conventional Society (Lower Silesia University Press, 2005) and Politics of Time. Dynamics of Identity in Post-Communist Poland (Berghahn Books, 2008) [in English]. He is co-editor, with Beth J. Singer, of Democracy and Totalitarian Experience (Rodopi, 2005) [in English].
Content
Introduction
Democracy and Everyday Life
Pragmatism as a Response to the Crisis of Democracy
George Herbert Mead's Concept of Language as Dialogue
George Herbert Mead: The Political, Democracy, and Everyday Life
George Hebert Mead: The Self and Democracy - Between Conflict and Integration
John Dewey: Individual, Community, and Democracy
Conclusion: The Pragmatist Concept of Democracy and its Role in the Contemporary Debate on Democratic Society
Dialogue, Carnival, Democracy: Mikhail Bakhtin and Political Theory
Politics and Mikhail Bakhtin's Notion of Language
The utterance as a Unit of Language
Ideology and the Utterance
Understanding and the Utterance
Dialogue, Understanding, and the Utterance
Dialogue and the Social
Carnival and Democracy
Conclusion: Dialogue, Carnival, and Democracy
Critical Community
Democracy and Community
Modernity and Community: A Genealogy
Are Liberalism and Community Eternal Enemies?
Communitarian Challenge: Community and Identity
Creation, Self-creation, and Community
Embodied Communities
Critical Community
Coda: Nonconsensual Democracy as a Political Form of Critical Community
Democratic Community between Consensus and Disagreement
Non-consensual Democracy: Dialogue, Solidarity and Democratic Politics
Non-consensual Democracy: Dialogue and Understanding
Non-consensual Democracy: Culture, Institutions and Understanding
Index
Democracy and Everyday Life
Pragmatism as a Response to the Crisis of Democracy
George Herbert Mead's Concept of Language as Dialogue
George Herbert Mead: The Political, Democracy, and Everyday Life
George Hebert Mead: The Self and Democracy - Between Conflict and Integration
John Dewey: Individual, Community, and Democracy
Conclusion: The Pragmatist Concept of Democracy and its Role in the Contemporary Debate on Democratic Society
Dialogue, Carnival, Democracy: Mikhail Bakhtin and Political Theory
Politics and Mikhail Bakhtin's Notion of Language
The utterance as a Unit of Language
Ideology and the Utterance
Understanding and the Utterance
Dialogue, Understanding, and the Utterance
Dialogue and the Social
Carnival and Democracy
Conclusion: Dialogue, Carnival, and Democracy
Critical Community
Democracy and Community
Modernity and Community: A Genealogy
Are Liberalism and Community Eternal Enemies?
Communitarian Challenge: Community and Identity
Creation, Self-creation, and Community
Embodied Communities
Critical Community
Coda: Nonconsensual Democracy as a Political Form of Critical Community
Democratic Community between Consensus and Disagreement
Non-consensual Democracy: Dialogue, Solidarity and Democratic Politics
Non-consensual Democracy: Dialogue and Understanding
Non-consensual Democracy: Culture, Institutions and Understanding
Index