Featuring some of the most important voices from contemporary academia, the podcast series “Democracy in Question?” discusses various democratic experiences and experiments, current crises as well as long-term challenges to democracy such as issues of legitimacy, disenfranchisement, or inequality.
“Democracy in Question?” hosted by Shalini Randeria is a joint production of the Graduate Institute’s Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy, the Institute for Human Sciences (IWM) Vienna, and the Research Group Soft Authoritarianisms, University of Bremen. It is produced in cooperation with Richard Miron and Anouk Milet (Earshot strategies).
“Sound of Democracy” is our new podcast project, planned for 2021. In collaboration with the Institute for Human Sciences (IWM) Vienna and artist Mukul Patel , we’re asking how democracy sounds today in different parts of the world, how we talk about democracy and which metaphors we use doing so. Sound of Democracy is part research project part fusion of artistic soundscapes and scholarly reflection.
Democracy in Question?
Most of the world’s population lives in a formal democracy today. But in both established and new democracies, trust in parliaments and political parties is plummeting. Worldwide, they are being torn apart by inequalities, political polarization and a politics of hate. Citizens are using the streets and the courts to challenge authority and to seek the accountability that is often missing at the ballot boxes. The form, content, institutions, practices and, ultimately, the very principles of liberal democracy are being called into question from India to Hungary and from Brazil to the US.
Hosted by Shalini Randeria, Rector of the IWM, Director of the Centre at the Graduate Institute, and Excellence Chair, University of Bremen (Research Group: Soft Authoritarianism). It features some of the most important voices in contemporary academia. Together they reflect on democratic experiences and experiments the world over and explore whether this crisis of democracy represents a historically unique challenge or whether parallels to political crises in the past can be discerned.
While each episode addresses issues concerning the contemporary challenges to democracy in different contexts, the series is also committed to exploring themes in the longue durée of democracy that have occupied social scientists for decades.
Join Shalini Randeria and leading scholars for an exploration of the dilemmas facing democracies worldwide. Subscribe now, wherever you get your podcasts!
All Episodes: Democracy in Question
S08E06: Michael Woldemariam on Challenges Facing African Democracy (Part 1)
This episode explores political and military conflicts in Ethiopia and more broadly, in the Horn of Africa. Why has Ethiopia’s process of democratization eroded in recent years? And what is the wider impact of such democratic backsliding on African regional politics? Listen to hear how shifting global geopolitical balances are…
S08E05: Vivek Maru on Legal Empowerment for Communities
This episode explores environmental justice and the democratization of law. What does it take to turn the law into something that ordinary people can use to protect themselves? And how can putting the power of the law into the hands of the people support progressive emancipatory politics? Listen to hear…
S08E04: Oleksandra Matviichuk on Human Rights and Ukraine
This episode explores human rights in relation to Russia’s full-scale aggression on Ukraine. How do accountability gaps play a role in restorative justice? And what are effective approaches for documenting losses and war crimes so they can be brought to court? Listen for an analysis of the current war in…
S08E03: Dilip Gaonkar on the “Degenerations of Democracy”
This episode explores contemporary fears about the decline of democracy. Is the current downward spiral actually part of a rhythmic oscillation of democracy? And given its centrality to modern political life, can democracy really be eradicated? Listen to hear about how the changing forms of the democratic project must be…
S08E02: Yanis Varoufakis on “Technofeudalism”
This episode explores the concept of technofeudalism and the role of digital platforms in governing the lives of individuals. How has the cloud created a feedback loop that removes agency from those who produce data? And what are the effects of technofeudalism on democratic politics? Listen to consider what democratic…
S08E01: Nancy Fraser on “Cannibal Capitalism”
This episode explores the pitfalls of understanding capitalism as a merely economic system. How does this narrow conventional view obscure distinct sources of non-economic wealth? And what is revealed by examining capitalism instead as a social order including aspects of expropriation, domestic labor and depletion of nature? Finally, why must…
S07E10: Paul Lendvai on “Austria Behind the Mask”
This episode explores Austrian history and politics, looking to lessons of the past to understand the future of democracy in the country. What might growing support for right wing nationalism mean for Austria? And how does the country’s neutrality play a role in relationships with external power in the EU…
S07E09: Maciej Kisilowski on the Polish Elections
This episode explores Poland’s recent election results and their significance as a turning point in democracy in Poland. Will this election mark the end of an illiberal period in the country? And might it be the start of a progressive wave sweeping across Europe? Listen to hear an analysis of…
S07E08: Kalypso Nicolaidis on Governing Together Through “Demoicracy” (Part 2)
This episode explores grassroots utopian practices and the Democratic Odyssey project, which recently convened in Athens. Building upon the notion of “demoicracy” in the European Union – the ideal of a union of people that govern together, but not as one – the conversation investigates collective access to political decision-making…
S07E07: Kalypso Nicolaidis on Governing Together Through “Demoicracy” (Part 1)
This episode explores the notion of “demoicracy” in the European Union – the ideal of a union of people that govern together, but not as one. What might pluralizing democracy look like? And do recent experiments warrant optimism in citizen assemblies? Listen to hear about emergent new models of transnational…
S07E06: Janka Oertel on “The End of the China Illusion” (Part 2)
This episode explores China’s thinly veiled projects of expanding global influence. Does Chinese control of critical infrastructure and economic supply chains threaten Europe’s autonomy? And how can democracies counter the global spread of Chinese Communist Party ideology? Listen to hear about China’s vulnerabilities to political protest and why many Chinese…
S07E05: Nobel Prize Winner Joseph Stiglitz on a More Equitable Future
This episode, recorded live at the 2023 Alpbach Forum in Tirol, Austria, explores why economic inequalities have increased over recent years and how such stratification is detrimental to democracy. What has been learned through past and current crises? And how might the green transition play a role in the future?…
S07E04: Janka Oertel on “The End of the China Illusion” (Part 1)
This episode explores illusions about China’s ambitions related to expanding military and economic power. How have such illusions been perpetuated by Germans and Europeans in order to maintain profit for companies? And what does a realistic assessment of China’s current ambitions of global economic dominance, military might and technological supremacy,…
S07E03: Alejandra Ballon Gutierrez on Body Politics in Peru
This episode explores former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori’s population control programs and how eugenic principles have led to the forceful sterilization of women belonging to various indigenous communities. What role do foreign governments and international donors play in the racialized politics of population control, and how have violations of women’s…
S07E02: Kim Lane Scheppele on Destroying Democracy by Law
This episode focuses on comparisons of soft authoritarian regimes and the phenomenon of autocratic legalism. How do the uses and abuses of law play a role in dismantling liberal democracy from within and cementing authoritarian rule? Listen to hear how countries including Turkey, Hungary and the United States are using…
Sound of Democracy
Programme: Sound of democracy
Entering into Conversation about the Sound of Democracy
The following text describes a project complementing the Sound of Democracy podcast, that will be carried out by Prof. Dr. Ingo H. Warnke and two of his doctoral students, namely Christian Bär and Hagen Steinhauer. Interviews on How Democracy Sounds What does democracy sound like today? How is its sound…
Sound of Democracy. Blog, Podcast and Interview Project
This blog post is a contribution by a team of linguists at the University of Bremen, namely Prof. Dr. Ingo H. Warnke and two of his doctoral students, Christian Bär as well as Hagen Steinhauer, who is also a member of the Research Group on Soft Authoritarianism, which is directed…
Sound of Democracy. Sound as a Metaphor
The following text dialogues with the podcast from the perspective of linguistics as a discipline and was written by Prof. Dr. Ingo H. Warnke together with two of his doctoral students, namely Christian Bär and Hagen Steinhauer. The word sound can refer to a wide range of phenomena. Within the…