1st Edition

Democracy in Dialogue, Dialogue in Democracy The Politics of Dialogue in Theory and Practice

    298 Pages
    by Routledge

    298 Pages
    by Routledge

    It is widely accepted that the machinery of multicultural societies and liberal democratic systems is dependent upon various forms of dialogue - dialogue between political parties, between different social groups, between the ruling and the ruled. But what are the conditions of a democratic dialogue and how does the philosophical dialogic approach apply to practice? Recently, facing challenges from mass protest movements across the globe, liberal democracy has found itself in urgent need of a solution to the problem of translating mass activity into dialogue, as well as that of designing borders of dialogue. Exploring the multifaceted nature of the concepts of dialogue and democracy, and critically examining materializations of dialogue in social life, this book offers a variety of perspectives on the theoretical and empirical interface between democracy and dialogue. Bringing together the latest work from scholars across Europe, Democracy in Dialogue, Dialogue in Democracy offers fresh theorizations of the role of dialogue in democratic thought and practice and will appeal to scholars of sociology, political science and social and political theory.

    Introduction, Katarzyna Jezierska and Leszek Koczanowicz. Part I Modes of Dialogue: Between understanding and consensus: engaging Mikhail Bakhtin in political thinking, Leszek Koczanowicz; Dialogue and critique: on the theoretical conditions of a critique of society, Mikael Carleheden; Repressed democracy: legitimacy problems in world society, Regina Kreide; Rational dialogue or emotional agon? Habermas’s concept of the public sphere and Mouffe’s project of radical democracy, Pawel Dybel. Part II The Challenge of the Other: ‘I’ meets the ‘other’: agonistic and deliberative versions of subjectivity and otherness, Katarzyna Jezierska; Bad patriots: universality, aesthetics, and the historicity of democracy, Stefan Jonsson; Attitudes, behaviour, democracy, and dialogue, Katarzyna Byrka, Tomasz Grzyb and Dariusz Dolinski; Antagonism, agonism, and dialogue in civil society: Wrocław’s Romanian Roma, Ewa Jupowiecka. Part III Dialogical Spaces: Thinking democracy and education for the present: the case of Norway after July 22, 2011, Torill Strand; Rehabilitation of power in democratic dialogic education, Eugene Matusov and Ana Marjanovic-Shane; Typology of critical dialogue and power relations in democratic dialogic education, Eugene Matusov and Ana Marjanovic-Shane; Dialogue - ideal and practiced: how philosophy is transformed into governance, Boel Englund and Birgitta Sandström; Interactive, qualitative, and inclusive? Assessing the deliberative capacity of the political blogosphere, Martin Karlsson

    Biography

    Katarzyna Jezierska is Postdoctoral Researcher at the Center for European Research (CERGU) and the Department of Political Science at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Leszek Koczanowicz is Professor of Philosophy and Political Science at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Faculty in Wrocław, Poland.

    ’A stimulating collection of essays on the importance of dialogue for democratic politics, with probing examinations of the philosophical problems of democratic dialogue and practical case-studies illuminating the issues at stake. It will be of great interest to all students of democracy and democratic education, and to all those concerned with improving the quality of contemporary democracy.’ John Schwarzmantel, University of Leeds, UK ’This collection of critical dialogues addresses a global problem: the future and the dilemmas of a specific form of democracy that emerged after the fall of communism. Democracy and dialogue: the theme is classical (going back to Plato) but also actual (in philosophers from Levinas to Buber to Habermas). The authors first engage their own cultures before joining together in a collective project that brings us back to the classical questions. The volume is fascinating, greater than the sum of its parts. This sort of dialogue should be continued.’ Dick Howard, Stony Brook University, USA