The New Principle of Democracy

2min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

We have barely even tried this democracy thing by our current minimal definition, you know. And so I think we need to, to, to see these things as changeable. So there's a phrase you said, actually, that I want to go back to. That principle is also from Supreme Court. It made its way into Supreme Court jurisprudence in, I think, 1963. Said by John Lewis during the famous March on Washington right? He said it because it was being promoted by the ANC in South Africa and Nelson Mandela.

“Democracy may not exist, but we’ll miss it when it’s gone” — or so suggests the title of Astra Taylor’s new book. We all know how democracy falls short, in practice, of its lofty ideals; but we can also appreciate how democratic values are crucial in the fight for a more just society. In this conversation, we dig into the nature of democracy, from its origins to the present day. We talk about who gets to participate, how economic inequality affects political inequality, and how democratic ideals manifest themselves in any number of real-world situations.

Support Mindscape on Patreon or Paypal.

Astra Taylor is a filmmaker, author, and activist. Her documentary films include Zizek!, The Examined Life, and most recently What Is Democracy? Her books include The People’s Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital age and the new Democracy May Not Exist, But We’ll Miss It When It’s Gone. She has taught sociology at the university level, and written for publications from n+1 to The London Review of Books. She was active in the Occupy movement, and is a co-founder of the Debt Collective.