Key Concepts in Radical Democracy - Detailseite

This course offers an introduction to theories of radical democracy. These theories, while being very diverse, share two important dimensions. Firstly, democratic practices are those concrete, contingent political practices that are defined by the freedom and equality of its participants; secondly, insofar as democracy consists in these practices, it is not stabile and irreducible to the institutions of representative democracy. We will ask questions such as: what is the status of conflict in politics? How are political identities forged, and why does that matter? How can we think about political self-organization and how does that relate to the institutions of representative democracy?

This course proceeds thematically, with each week focused on a key concept, such as ‘demos’, ‘dissent,’ ‘contingency,’ and ‘assembly’. The last three weeks will be dedicated to reading a longer work in radical democracy, which will be decided upon by the group.

Bennett, “In parliament with things” in: Radical Democracy: Politics between abundance and lack (2005) ed. Lars Tonder and Lasse Thomassen, p.133-148
Butler, “Contingent foundations: Feminism and the question of ‘postmodernism’” in: The Postmodern Turn: New Perspectives on Social Theory (1994) ed. Steven Seidman, p.153-170
Mouffe & Laclau, Hegemony and Socialist Strategy: Towards a Radical Democratic Politic
Rancière, “The Method of Inequality: Politics and Poetics” in: Recognition or Disagreement: A Critical Encounter on the Politics of Freedom, Equality, and Identity (2016) eds. Katia Genel and Jean-Philippe Deranty, p.133-155
Wolin, “Fugitive Democracy,” Constellations 1:1 1994, p. 11-25

Mit dem Besuch dieser Veranstaltung (4 SWS) wird das gesamte Modul 5 abgeschlossen inklusive MAP.

M5: HA + MU