The Burden of Democracy
The Claims of Culture, Public Culture, and Democratic Memory
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Lexington Books
Published:9th Dec '11
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
This book is important because it weaves together both Anglophone and Continental thinking in political philosophy. Examining the role of historical memory in the debate on democratic ethics not only constitutes an original theoretical contribution-ultimately, it can further support the democratic pluralism the book defends.-Marcel Gauchet, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris This is a very important book. It gives us a comprehensive conceptual framework for the creation of the inclusive spaces for public deliberation and mediation necessary in order for "post-colonial," "post-national" and "post-totalitarian" democracies to function. Such spaces are ones in which we can all be ourselves together, not only as individual persons, but also as members of our various communities of belonging. It is only in such inclusive spaces that, together, we can create a common future we can all enter together as full human beings.-Jacqueline Wasilewski, former professor at International Christian University, Tokyo
This book offers an original contribution to the debate on contemporary democratic ethics. It argues that public culture provides the mediating spaces required for processes of encounter, but should be supplemented with an open dialog on history, memory, and identity. Since democratic modernity is consolidating its new phase characterized by the multiplicity of perspectives, the mediation of conflict, identity, and memory are required to continue fostering mutual understanding and the identification of issues of common concern. The historical emergence of a public culture is a democratic gain. Recognizing this offers opportunities for ethical transformation that respects diversity but also addresses the realities of conflict under conditions of post modernity.
This book is important because it weaves together both Anglophone and Continental thinking in political philosophy. Examining the role of historical memory in the debate on democratic ethics not only constitutes an original theoretical contribution—ultimately, it can further support the democratic pluralism the book defends. -- Marcel Gauchet, Professor Emeritus, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris
This is a very important book. It gives us a comprehensive conceptual framework for the creation of the inclusive spaces for public deliberation and mediation necessary in order for 'post-colonial,' 'post-national' and 'post-totalitarian' democracies to function. Such spaces are ones in which we can all be ourselves together, not only as individual persons, but also as members of our various communities of belonging. It is only in such inclusive spaces that, together, we can create a common future we can all enter together as full human beings. -- Jacqueline Wasilewski, Professor (Retired), International Christian University (ICU), Senior Fellow, Society for Intercultural Education, Training & Research (SIETAR), Adviser, Americans for Indian Opportunity (AIO)
Text without context is pretext! In Burden of Democracy, Souillac powerfully reveals how the public sphere contextualizes and contains the politics of difference, pluralism and democratic justice as individuals and groups search for meaning and identity in a globalized world. -- Kevin P. Clements, University of Otago, New Zealand
The volume is wide-ranging, thorough, and penetrating in the author’s elucidation of the 'burden of democracy' today. This is a stimulating work of original and reliable scholarship that sheds light on the current democracy of France as well as on the current tasks of democratic theorizing. -- Shin Chiba, International Christian University, Tokyo, Japan
ISBN: 9780739126295
Dimensions: 241mm x 162mm x 21mm
Weight: 513g
238 pages