The Trouble with Democracy
Political Modernity in the 21st Century
Published on 31. August 2017
Book
Paperback/Softback
288 pages
978-1-4744-2839-2 (ISBN)
Description
Western political thought has long maintained that democracy, once achieved, is here to stay. This view appears to be supported by successive 'waves of democratisation' across the world but, in truth, the political situation of our time is much more ambiguous. On the one hand, the commitment to democracy seems to be more widely shared than ever; on the other, popular will has ever less impact on political decisions because of alleged constraints in an era of 'globalisation'. Existing democracies suffer from a combination of technocratic governance and populist reactions. Global political communication has foundered with addressing urgent problems such as climate change, global social justice and economic-financial crises. By placing political condition of our time in its long-term historical context, this book radically reconsiders key issues of political thought and gives you a comparative exploration of the current experiences of democracy in several world-regions.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Edinburgh
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 231 mm
Width: 155 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
544 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4744-2839-2 (9781474428392)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Gerard Rosich is Doctoral Researcher within the ERC Advanced Grant Research Project Trajectories of Modernity at The University of Barcelona. Peter Wagner is ICREA Research Professor at the University of Barcelona.
Content
Acknowledgements; List of Contributors; 1. Introduction: Re-interpreting Democracy for Our Time, Gerard Rosich and Peter Wagner; 2. Autonomy in and Between Polities: Democracy and the Need for Collective Political Selves, Gerard Rosich; 3. Rethinking 'Modern' Democracy: Political Modernity and Constituent Power, Andreas Kalyvas; 4. Democratic Surplus and Democracy-in-failing: On Ancient and Modern Self-cancellation of Democracy, Nathalie Karagiannis; 5. Setbacks of Women's Emancipation (Condition, Consequence, Measure and Ruse) , Genevieve Fraisse; 6. Political Modernity, Democracy and State-Society Relations in Latin America: A New Socio-historical Problematique?, Manuel A. Garreton; 7. Communitarian Cosmopolitanism: Argentina's Recuperated Factories, Neo-liberal Globalization and Democratic Citizenship, Carlos A. Forment; 8. Middle Classing in Roodepoort: Unexpected Sites of Post-apartheid 'Community', Ivor Chipkin; 9. Democracy and Capitalism in Europe, Brazil and South Africa, Peter Wagner; 10. From Realism to Activism: A Critique of Resignation in Political Theory, Lea Ypi; 11. The World as We Find It: A Suggestion for a Democratic Theory for Our Times, Tracy B. Strong; 12. Epilogue: Democracy as Capacity for Self-transformation, Gerard Rosich and Peter Wagner; Index