Certain Turns of Modernity in Democratic Theory
Certain Turns of Modernity in Democratic Theory [This conversation with Pierre Rosanvallon was held in French, over the phone, and translated by Phil Paine. It first appears in the book Democratic Theorists in Conversation: Turns in Contemporary Thought.] Defining democracy Gagnon: What is your conception of democracy? Rosanvallon: The a priori definition of democracy is […]
Twists of Democratic Governance
Twists of Democratic Governance [This conversation was first published in the book Democratic Theorists in Conversation: Turns in Contemporary Thought.] Defining democracy Gagnon: How do you conceptualize democracy? Dryzek: First of all I should say that I do not particularly like foundational philosophical questions and I’m not very good at dealing with conceptualizing democracy at […]
Women keep democracy’s heart beating in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe
Women keep democracy’s heart beating in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe [First published in The Conversation, and co-written with Mark Chou and Tezcan Gumus, this essay was borne from the deeply satisfying effect of a group of women, from a country maligned for its Mugabe relation, visiting various Australian parliaments and asking: where are your women, where are your […]
The Reflexive Modernization of Democracy
The Reflexive Modernization of Democracy [Ulrich Beck was at the London School of Economics when I was visiting London in early 2012 (I had a conversation with David Held then, too). I have a memory of us finding an occasional room to use, some hot desk, and sprucing it up a bit with books in […]
Questions about the New Democratic Theory
Questions about the New Democratic Theory [This conversation with David Held was our second. The first, on cosmopolitanism and democracy, appears here. For the second, I traveled from Toronto to London in early 2012 and met with him at his (then) London School of Economics office (I remember a football jersey, signed, in a frame, […]
Introduction: New Democratic Theory?
New Democratic Theory? [This is the introductory chapter to my second book, Democratic Theorists in Conversation: Turns in Contemporary Thought, published in 2014 by Palgrave Macmillan. It, as the chapter title suggests, offers an inquiry into whether the field of democracy studies/democratic theory is entering new ground. This line of inquiry is the most commented […]
Schrödinger’s Democracy [This is chapter 4 of my first book, Evolutionary Basic Democracy, published in 2013 by Palgrave Macmillan. The name of the chapter, of course, comes from the Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger. A canine friend, who I have the pleasure of caring for, is also called Schrödinger (Odie for short). I have fond memories […]
Arguments against Evolutionary Democracy
Arguments Against Evolutionary Democracy [This is the 4th chapter to my first book Evolutionary Basic Democracy published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2013. I was visiting my parents when writing it and have sweet memories of typing from my childhood’s dining table where, decades prior, relatives had held me accountable to my vegetables and there, decades […]
Representing Nature and Contemporary Democracy
Representing Nature and Contemporary Democracy [This conversation was originally published by Democratic Theory (vol 1, issue 2, pp. 94-108) in 2014. The most distinct memory I have of the discussion on the whole was the time we spent focusing on just how difficult it is to talk to other people, to break into different enclaves, […]
Arguments for Evolutionary Democracy
Arguments For Evolutionary Democracy [This is the third chapter from my book Evolutionary Basic Democracy (Palgrave, 2013). It offers arguments in favor of the theory that forms of democracy have independently evolved many times in this world, especially among non-humans!] Abstract: I investigate the sciences for their use of the terms ‘democracy’ and ‘democratic’. Findings […]
Recent Comments