VIDEO: Reset Democracy (part 3)
PASSIONS AND POLITICS: HOW CAN WE REACQUIRE DEMOCRATIC ENDEAVOR?
Democratic institutions in Western countries are undermined by an unprecedented legitimacy crisis. Over the decades, the professionalization of political careers, the socio-economic homogeneity among elected representatives, and the absence of rotation in office have made politics a world unto itself. With Carolin Emcke, Paul Ginsborg, Ralph Bollmann.
Democratic institutions in Western countries are undermined by an unprecedented legitimacy crisis. Over the decades, the professionalization of political careers, the socio-economic homogeneity among elected representatives, and the absence of rotation in office have made politics a world unto itself.
This “democratic fatigue syndrome”, which David van Reybrouck mentions in his book Against Elections, is a disorder that affects countless Western societies. However, it has not yet been fully described and analysed.
The phenomenon blights our societies, it causes disinterest in politics and the emergence of populist and anti-democratic movements. Why is this happening? How can we find solutions to break through this impasse and boost the engagement of citizens in public life? In a nutshell: how can we reset democracy?
With regard to these issues, we have invited historians, political scientists, journalists and essayists to take part in a series of public debates. The aim of these debates is to exchange views, analyse the situation and propose a cure for democracy, the great invalid of the Western world.
Monday 20th March 2017 - 8PM
PASSIONS AND POLITICS: HOW CAN WE REACQUIRE DEMOCRATIC ENDEAVOR?
With: Carolin Emcke & Paul Ginsborg
Moderator: Ralph Bollmann
Carolin Emcke is a renowned German writer and journalist. From 1998 to 2003, she traveled to conflict regions and wrote about what she witnessed for the weekly magazine Der Spiegel. In 2016 she received the prestigious Peace Prize of the German Book Trade.
Paul Ginsborg is a historian and a leading authority on contemporary Italy. He taught European Politics at Cambridge University, before moving to Italy in 1992 to take up the chair of Contemporary European History at the University of Florence.
