No Alternative? Challenges to Democracy Today

Goethe-Göttingen Workshop

Project leaders: Prof. Rainer Forst and Prof. Ayelet Shachar

Project description

Especially after the historic social changes in 1989, democracy was considered to be the one and only legitimate political order, though debates about its form continued. Today, the situation is different, for various reasons. One is that in various parts of the world, alternative forms of organizing a political order, based on one ruling party, for example, have proven to be both resilient and socially productive, if one thinks of China. Another is that even within Western societies, parties that advocate a populist, illiberal order present themselves as both representing the “true” people and realizing true democracy, in the process seeking to unsettle certain aspects of it once seen as essential. Finally, in a globalized world, many see democracies, at least in their nation-state based form, as not sufficiently autonomous and powerful enough to generate effective responses to the great challenges that lie ahead, such as ecological changes that know no borders and unfettered globalized economic forces.

These are the questions we plan to take up in this conference planned for December 2019. We will bring together global experts on these themes and aim to shed light on core aspects of the future of democracy.
The conference continues a tradition of exchanges between Normative Orders and the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity in Göttingen directed by Prof. Ayelet Shachar. It has brought important topics and excellent speakers to both places, such as Wendy Brown, Melissa Williams, Wolfgang Streeck and David Miller.

Earlier this year, the Third GG Exchange took place on March 15, 2019, at Normative Orders and discussed “The Contours of Citizenship.”

Goethe-Göttingen Workshop
September 26, 2019
Inclusive Parliaments – Representation, Mobility, Disability