Prefigurative Democracy
Protest, Social Movements and the Political Institution of Society
Published on 31. August 2024
Book
Paperback/Softback
224 pages
978-1-4744-5186-4 (ISBN)
Description
In the wake of protest movements such as Occupy Wall Street and the Spanish 15-M movement, the past decade has seen an increased interest in prefigurative politics: the attempt of activists to already realise or embody their ideal of a future society within their own movements and practices. Engaging with the concept and its history, this book establishes a radical-democratic theory of prefiguration. Van de Sande builds on the work of political theorists as diverse as Hannah Arendt, Ernesto Laclau, Claude Lefort, Rosa Luxemburg, and Judith Butler to reveal the radical and representative role of protest and social movements today. He gives various accounts of how prefigurative practices and movements may continue to have political relevance long after they have ended.
Reviews / Votes
What do "Occupy" and other such protests really accomplish? This eloquent book disarms that question, terming them "prefigurative"-direct action that affords participants an immediate experience of freedom and unsettles prevailing social identities and alliances. Prefigurative Democracy both honors activism and engages scholars, by unexpectedly pairing Hannah Arendt with Ernesto Laclau. -- Lisa Disch, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor I recommend this book, from which I have learned a lot, which pushed my thoughts on some issues much further and opened some new fields I yet have to think through, to all readers interested in democracy theories and/or Hannah Arendt studies. I'm sure Prefigurative Democracy is worth your time and attention. -- Maria Robaszkiewicz, Paderborn University * HannahArendt.net *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Edinburgh
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 14 mm
Weight
338 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4744-5186-4 (9781474451864)
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
Mathijs van de Sande teaches political philosophy at Radboud University Nijmegen. In 2017, he obtained his PhD at the Institute of Philosophy in Leuven with a thesis on the prefigurative repertoire of recent assembly movements, such as Occupy Wall Street. His main research interests are radical democratic theory, political representation, activism and social movement theory.
Content
AcknowledgementsIntroduction: 'It's Prefigurative, So to Speak.'Chapter One: A New Society In the Shell of the Old.Chapter Two: Beginnings Without Ends.Chapter Three: From The Assembly to Council Democracy: Towards a Prefigurative Form of Government?Chapter Four: Embodiment: Prefiguration and Synecdochal Representation.Chapter Five: Sedimentation and Crystallisation: Two Metaphors for Political Change.Conclusion: What is Prefigurative Democracy?Bibliography