Challenging Contemporary 'Democracy' and Identifying Problems
Challenging Contemporary ‘Democracy’ and Identifying Problems Written by Jean-Paul Gagnon and Nicholas Osbaldiston. Originally published by Social Alternatives, 30(3), 2011, Pp. 3-4. [This is the introductory article to the special issue that Nick invited me to join him in curating for Social Alternatives. Note how it takes us a good three paragraphs just to get […]
Change Tax Tack to Take Power Back
Change tax tack to take power back Short-essay, originally published by Eureka Street, 18 November 2013. [Prior to writing this I was reading into the literature on “democratic economy” and “economic democracy” and got to thinking about the different ways we are conventionally taxed, predominantly (but not exclusively) in Australia. This led to thinking around […]
Establishing Indigeneity in African Pluralities usingPRO169 Parameters and a Case Study for Measuring their Inclusivity Originally published by African and Asian Studies, 10(4), 2011, Pp. 323-346. [PRO169. Code from the International Labour Organization where I once interned (back in 2009, Geneva). I think I liked getting into a suit and taking careful (well, I hoped) […]
Adventures in dumbocracy: where are the experts on Q&A?
Adventures in dumbocracy: where are the experts on Q&A? Co-written by Nick Osbaldiston and Jean-Paul Gagnon. Originally published by The Conversation, September 24, 2012. [Our Oscar the Grouch moment. Nick and I got pretty fed up with the lack of academics on a purportedly “expertise” oriented national television program in Australia (and it wasn’t because we […]
A Book review of John Keane's 'Life and Death of Democracy'
A Book review of John Keane’s 2009 Life and Death of Democracy Originally published by Social Alternatives, 29(3), 2010, Pp. 70. [Stilted and not expressive of how deeply I enjoyed Keane’s book. I’ll need, at some point, to upload pictures of the marginalia from my hardback copy. The thousand or so pages, cover-to-cover, are littered […]
Non-human Democracy: our political vocabulary has no room for animals Originally published by The Conversation, December 22, 2015. [The idea for this three part essay first started forming in 2011/2012 namely due to the work of Thomas Seeley, author of much, but for me, it was his book “Honeybee Democracy” which stands out most. The explanation that […]
Nation-state or country-state: how do we discuss belonging in an age of fluidity?
Nation-state or country-state: how do we discuss belonging in an age of fluidity? Originally published by openDemocracy, April 12, 2011. [I did not think this short essay would spark a debate, but it did. See Michael Gardiner’s counter-argument here. I wrote the essay in a worry over the homogenizing effect of “nationalism”, particularly so as […]
The Subalterns and Unknowns of Democracy
The Subalterns and Unknowns of Democracy Originally published as Chapter 1 of Evolutionary Basic Democracy: ACritical Overture, 2013, Pp. 15-33. [This chapter was inspired by the literature on “democracy before democracy” as Yves Schemeil once put it or by the considered view that democracy, like its antonym autocracy, can spring and has sprung up in […]
The Taliban Did Not Create the Taliban, Imperialism Did
The Taliban Did Not Create the Taliban, Imperialism Did Originally published in the Journal of South Asian Development, 7(1), 2012, Pp. 23-42. [The idea to write this essay came forcefully whilst I was reading histories of Afghanistan (if you write professionally or otherwise you’ll probably have experienced the force of an argument that simply needs […]
Democracy expresses itself in many ways
Democracy expresses itself in many ways Originally published by The Conversation, February 2, 2018. [This short essay is my contribution to a collection of 20 responses that I curated in late 2017. I was driven to do this because of the frustratingly over-simplified narrative being repeated by the mass media that “democracy is dying” or […]
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