Degenerations of Democracy

Craig Calhoun; Dilip Parameshwar Gaonkar; Charles Taylor

Published by Harvard University Press 2022

Degenerations of Democracy

Craig Calhoun , Dilip Parameshwar Gaonkar and Charles Taylor

https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674276024

Overview
Contents

About this book

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.

Reviews

Written by three world-class thinkers, the book provides a fresh and well-argued diagnosis of what must be done to save democracy from itself. No other book can offer something remotely similar to what this book has to offer in terms of historical detail, conceptual argument, moral outlook, and political acuity.
-- Lars Tønder, University of Copenhagen

Democracy in the twenty-first century is degenerating from within rather than being attacked externally as was totalitarianism. We consequently need to reinvent it, not just preserve it. This book defines the task ahead of us. Written by three key figures of political philosophy and social theory, it makes a conceptually powerful contribution to the rebuilding of democracy at a time when the sovereignty of the people and the promise of equality are understood in a trivializing way by populist governments and neoliberal regimes.
-- Pierre Rosanvallon, author of Good Government: Democracy beyond Elections

Questions about what ails democracy today get a new lease on life in this captivating book. Calhoun, Gaonkar, and Taylor blend their voices well to produce a series of deep and insightful reflections remarkable for their combination of lucid prose, critical diagnoses, reasoned optimism, and perspectives that are strikingly fresh. A must-read for all students of contemporary politics.
-- Dipesh Chakrabarty, author of The Climate of History in a Planetary Age

Many scholars have traced the crisis of Western liberal democracy to the rise of authoritarian and populist leaders. Three distinguished theorists argue that the problems run deeper…Wealth inequality and economic stagnation have exacerbated political divisions, but the bigger problem is the fraying of the civic solidarity that knits citizens together across lines of difference.
-- G. John Ikenberry Foreign Affairs

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Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1 Degenerations of Democracy Charles Taylor Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	18
2 Contradictions and Double Movements Craig Calhoun Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	48
3 Compromises with Capitalism Craig Calhoun Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	88
4 Authenticity and Meritocracy Craig Calhoun and Charles Taylor Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	129
5 Making the Demos Safe for Democracy? Dilip Parameshwar Gaonkar Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	159
6 The Structure of Democratic Degenerations and the Imperative of Direct Action Dilip Parameshwar Gaonkar Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	181
7 What Is to Be Done? Craig Calhoun and Charles Taylor Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	208
Conclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	258
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	289
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	333
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	337

Language: English
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Pages
- Main content: 320
Keywords: identity politics; recognition; redistribution; protests; direct action; street politics; polarization; exclusion; ethno nationalism; anti immigration; fragmentation public sphere; media; trumpism; election; neoliberalism; health care; january 6

eBook

Published: May 17, 2022
ISBN: 9780674276024