In 2007 the United Nations General Assembly resolved to observe 15 September as the International Day of Democracy—with the purpose of promoting and upholding the principles of democracy—and invited all member states and organizations to commemorate the day in an appropriate manner that contributes to raising public awareness. Read more about this special day at the UN website.
In honor of this year’s observance, we’ve highlighted select books and journals below.
Visit our website to browse for a complete listing of all published and forthcoming titles.
Enhancing Democracy
Public Policies and Citizen Participation in Chile
Gonzalo Delamaza
“[This book] frames the Chilean case nicely in the context of theories of democratization, democracy, and the case for political participation in democracy. It will clarify our thinking about the many different modalities of participation….This is a huge advance and contribution to the debate. And, of course, the book makes a very significant, unique empirical contribution to understanding the state of political participation by civil society in Chile.” · Eduardo Silva, Tulane University
Figuration Work
Student Participation, Democracy and University Reform in a Global Knowledge Economy
Gritt B. Nielsen
“[A] well-written piece of work [which] draws upon extensive interdisciplinary studies of higher education and recent theoretical approaches to capitalism and globalization . . . The analysis is careful, detailed, and always points beyond the event analyzed to the social implication and to the change in the theories of civism and citizenship.” · Monica Heintz, University of Paris 10 – Nanterre
Writing Democracy
The Norwegian Constitution 1814-2014
Edited by Karen Gammelgaard and Eirik Holmøyvik
“This is an interesting and timely collection of studies of an important document that is all too often neglected by scholars of other countries and traditions.” · Lynn Hunt, UCLA
Arab Spring
Uprisings, Powers, Interventions
Kjetil Fosshagen
The events of the Arab Spring presented a dramatic reconstitution of politics and the public sphere through their aesthetic and performative uses of public space. Mass demonstrations have become a new global political form, grounded in the localization of globalizing processes, institutions, and relationships. This volume delves beneath the seemingly chaotic nature of events to explore the structural dynamics underpinning popular resistance and their support or suppression. It moves beyond what has usually been defined as Arab Spring nations to include critical views on Bahrain, the Palestinian territories, and Turkey. The research and analysis presented explores not just the immediate protests, but also the historical realization, appropriation, and even institutionalization of these critical voices, as well as the role of international criminal law and legal exceptionalism in authorizing humanitarian interventions. Above all, it questions whether the revolutions have since been hijacked and the broad popular uprisings already overrun, suppressed, or usurped by the upper classes.
FROM BERGHAHN JOURNALS
Democratic Theory
An Interdisciplinary Journal
Democratic Theory is a peer-reviewed journal published and distributed by Berghahn. It encourages philosophical and interdisciplinary contributions that critically explore democratic theory—in all its forms. Spanning a range of views, the journal offers a cross-disciplinary forum for diverse theoretical questions to be put forward and systematically examined. It advances non-Western as well as Western ideas and is actively based on the premise that there are many forms of democracies and many types of democrats.
Theoria
A Journal of Social and Political Theory
Theoria: A Journal of Social and Political Theory is an engaged, multidisciplinary, and peer-reviewed journal of social and political theory. Its purpose is to address, through scholarly debate, the many challenges posed to intellectual life by the major social, political and economic forces that shape the contemporary world. Thus it is principally concerned with questions such as how modern systems of power, processes of globalization and capitalist economic organization bear on matters such as justice, democracy and truth.
We’d also like to remind you that students may receive unlimited online access to any journal for a full year for just $19.95! Individuals can receive online access for $34.95/year.