Topics of Interest » Democracy in the 21st Century »
Since 1945, the language and institutions of democracy have taken root in so many different geographic contexts that more than a few presuppositions of democratic theory have been invalidated. As democracy spread through the world, the world has made its mark on democracy, even though the metamorphosis remains largely unregistered in the Atlantic-centred literature on democracy….
The Greening of Democracy
This talk aims to provoke discussion about the long-term, ‘deep’ effects of green politics on the language and institutions and ‘imaginary’ of democracy. Some of these effects are more obvious than others, he points out. In half a generation, green-minded intellectuals, movements and political parties have helped ensure that such matters as chemical pollutants, nuclear [...]
A Short History of Banks and Democracy
The following reflection on the subject of banks and democracy has been prepared for a forthcoming OECD meeting in Paris, in late-May 2013. The text is long, stretching the definition of a field note on present-day democracy. But such matters are sadly neglected by contemporary theorists and analysts of democracy. Comments are most welcome.
Lunch and Dinner with Julian Assange, in Prison
Everybody warned this would be no ordinary invitation, and they were right. Three hundred metres from Knightsbridge underground station, just a stone’s throw from fashion-conscious Harrods, I suddenly encounter a wall of police. I try to remember my instructions. Look straight ahead. Avoid eye contact. If asked my name, reply with a question. Ask who [...]
The Age of Mega-Projects
You said in your recent public speech in Castellon that we’re now living in the age of mega-projects. What exactly did you mean by this? In Europe as elsewhere, we’ve entered times marked by big-footprint projects, organised efforts to do things never before attempted, adventures of power that touch and transform the lives of millions [...]
Silence and Catastrophe
New Reasons Why Politics Matters in the Early Years of the Twenty-first Century. Bernard Crick was revered and respected for his writing against anti-politics and his dislike of intellectual timidity. So he might well have found the following risqué observation both politically relevant and intellectually satisfying. Look around: we’re living in an age marked by [...]
Restorative Justice
Rethinking the history of the impact of representative democracy upon Indigenous peoples. Although the first Australian association of self-declared democrats was formed in Sydney only in 1848, the year of revolutions in Europe, the political tides flowing in their favour were anticipated several decades earlier in a short but salient letter by the former President [...]
Sydney Writers’ Festival 2012
The internationally renowned democracy expert, Professor John Keane, joined a special Sydney Writers’ Festival panel discussion on Thursday 17 May in the University of Sydney’s Great Hall on the future of the Occupy movement.
News from Athens
Wednesday 4th April 2012: a funny old day, though my field notes record that it began well. An early morning message arrives from Athens, from Periklis Douvitsas. He’s the editor of the publishing house looking after Why Democracy. It’s shortly to appear in Greek translation. “I am sending you the cover art”, he writes. He [...]
Democracy is Failing the Planet
Published 13 February 2012 | St. James Ethics Centre – IQ2 Oz, ABC Big IDEAS Why should we assume that democracy is the best of all political systems? Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets in the Arab world demanding freedom and democracy. And countless numbers have been prepared to die in [...]