S1E10: Democ­ra­cy from Below: What Real Utopias Can We Build on?

Cit­i­zens have a cru­cial role to play in polit­i­cal life and can have tremen­dous pow­er, as they come togeth­er in asso­ci­a­tions and social move­ments. To close this first sea­son, Pro­fes­sor  Mary Kaldor (Lon­don School of Eco­nom­ics) lends us her expe­ri­ence as both an aca­d­e­m­ic and an activist in the peace and human rights move­ments to dis­cuss what role civ­il soci­ety plays in keep­ing democ­ra­cy alive and healthy, and what real utopias we can build on.

For futher reflec­tions and thoughts on Mary Kaldor’s notion of ‘Hor­i­zon­tal Democ­ra­cy’ read Jens Adam’s blog ‘Civ­il Soci­ety Revis­it­ed: Democ­ra­cy and Grass­roots Author­i­tar­i­an­ism’.