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Degenerations of Democracy
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Degenerations of Democracy
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
This book is an insightful read for students, scholars, and activists interested in political theory, democratic renewal, and social justice movements. It is particularly suited to those seeking deep understanding of democracy's challenges in contemporary global contexts.
Craig Calhoun, Dilip Gaonkar, and Charles Taylor argue that democracies have embraced individual freedom at the expense of equality and solidarity, economic growth at the expense of democracy. Rebuilding local communities and large-scale institutions is now crucial, with attention to the public good beyond private advantage or ingroup loyalty.
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Description
Three leading thinkers analyze the erosion of democracy's social foundations and call for a movement to reduce inequality, strengthen inclusive solidarity, empower citizens, and reclaim pursuit of the public good.
Democracy is in trouble. Populism is a common scapegoat but not the root cause. More basic are social and economic transformations eroding the foundations of democracy, ruling elites trying to lock in their own privilege, and cultural perversions like making individualistic freedom the enemy of democracy's other crucial ideals of equality and solidarity. In Degenerations of Democracy three of our most prominent intellectuals investigate democracy gone awry, locate our points of fracture, and suggest paths to democratic renewal.
In Charles Taylor's phrase, democracy is a process, not an end state. Taylor documents creeping disempowerment of citizens, failures of inclusion, and widespread efforts to suppress democratic participation, and he calls for renewing community. Craig Calhoun explores the impact of disruption, inequality, and transformation in democracy's social foundations. He reminds us that democracies depend on republican constitutions as well as popular will, and that solidarity and voice must be achieved at large scales as well as locally.
Taylor and Calhoun together examine how ideals like meritocracy and authenticity have become problems for equality and solidarity, the need for stronger articulation of the idea of public good, and the challenges of thinking big without always thinking centralization.
Dilip Parameshwar Gaonkar points out that even well-designed institutions will not integrate everyone, and inequality and precarity make matters worse. He calls for democracies to be prepared for violence and disorder at their margins—and to treat them with justice, not oppression.
The authors call for bold action building on projects like Black Lives Matter and the Green New Deal. Policy is not enough to save democracy; it will take movements.
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
Esteemed scholars commend the book's in-depth diagnosis of the democratic crisis beyond populism and authoritarianism, emphasising the fraying of civic solidarity and economic inequities. Reviews describe it as stimulating and refreshing, offering a far-reaching analysis focused on the US, Canada, India, and Europe. Praised as a fresh and well-argued work by three world-class thinkers, it compellingly argues for bold action to revitalise democracy.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780674237582
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Format: Hardback
Date Published: 17 May 2022
Country: United States
Imprint: Harvard University Press
Illustration: 4 illus.
Audience: Professional and scholarly
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 33.0mm
Width: 156.0mm
Height: 235.0mm
Weight: 612g
Pages: 368
About the Author
Craig Calhoun is University Professor of Social Sciences at Arizona State University and was previously Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science and President of the SSRC. His books include The Roots of Radicalism and Nations Matter. Dilip Parameshwar Gaonkar is Director of the Center for Transcultural Studies and Professor in Rhetoric and Public Culture at Northwestern University, where he also directs the Center for Global Culture and Communication. For many years he was editor of the influential journal Public Culture. Charles Taylor is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Philosophy at McGill University. Author of The Language Animal, Sources of the Self, The Ethics of Authenticity, and A Secular Age, he has received many honors, including the Templeton Prize, the Berggruen Prize, and membership in the Order of Canada.
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