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Jean-Paul Gagnon
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A feminine 'ethic of care' and the future of Australian democracy

a more flexible and reflexive feminine morality, or ethic-of-care, pushes us to think differently about democracy, and how we can make it work for all of us

A feminine ‘ethic of care’ and the future of Australian democracy Originally published by BroadAgenda, 16 August 2017. [This short essay, invited by BroadAgenda, forms one part of a two-step with Selen Ercan who wrote on the rise and rise of small p politics (and yarn!). This was back in the early days of the […]

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Don't Like the Budget? Your options aren't limited to voting.

A short protest essay, with Mark Chou, to help with the mobilization against an unpopular Australian (Commonwealth) budget proposal.

Don’t like the budget? Your options aren’t limited to voting Originally published by Independent Australia, 30 May 2014. [This short protest essay has quite the backstory. At the time, a Tony Abbott led Liberal National Coalition party was in government in Australia and had proposed a rather unpopular budget. What bristled many was the claim […]

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Breaking the patriarchal code in Australian politics

there is a lot that we could learn from the Global South when it comes to gender equality in politics

Breaking the patriarchal code in Australian politics Originally published by BroadAgenda, 3 July 2018. [This piece kickstarts a 5-part series I was invited to edit by BroadAgenda editor Dr Pia Rowe. Other contributions are made by Dr Hans Asenbaum, Dr Clare Woodford, and Dr Anna Gutowska [part 1 & part 2].] Browsing a bookshop in […]

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Does ecological policy have to be so cruel?

Embracing epistemic multiplicity offers a different way

Does ecological policy have to be so cruel? Embracing epistemic multiplicity offers a different way Originally published by ABC Religion & Ethics, 24 Jan 2020. Co-authored with Robin Ladwig and Hannah Barrowman. [The original motivation for this article was the over-application of a positivist epistemology in the management of so-called invasive species in Australia and […]

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A Lesson in Democracy ... From Slime Moulds

Short essay applying the theory of non-human democracy to slime mould.

A Lesson in Democracy…from Slime Moulds Originally published by The Crick Centre and republished by The Policy Space, 16 December 2015. [This short essay concerns the first type of life that I began investigating with the theory of non-human democracy which posits, in short, that democracy is not solely a human invention/discovery, that it does […]

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Resist and Revivify. Democratic theory in a time of defiance

Resist and Revivify: Democratic Theory in a Time of Defiance Originally published by Democratic Theory, June 2017. Co-authored with Dr Emily Beausoleil. [I remember preparing the issue of Democratic Theory that this editorial prefaces during a very difficult time, politically. These were the early days of a shock Trump presidency, of a deeply confused Brexit […]

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Democratic Theory and Theoretical Physics

Democratic Theory and Theoretical Physics Originally published by the Taiwan Journal of Democracy, 6(2), 2010. Pp. 1-22. [This journal article was written in the end game of the doctoral thesis I was, at the time, writing whilst an intern at the International Labour Organization in Geneva and, later, at my doctoral alma mater the Queensland […]

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Change Tax Tack to Take Power Back

Is this the best or only way that taxation should work?

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 […]

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Non-human Democracy

our political vocabulary has no room for animals

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 […]

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Democracy expresses itself in many ways

Short essay, originally published by The Conversation, here in annotated form.

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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