The major conflicts between the Global North and the South can be expected to result from the confrontation of alternative conceptions of democracy, mainly between liberal or representative democracy and participatory democracy. The hegemonic model of democracy, while prevailing on a global scale, guarantees no more than low-intensity democracy. In recent times, participatory democracy has exhibited a new dynamic, engaging mainly subaltern communities and social groups that fight against social exclusion and the suppression of citizenship. In this collection of reports from the Global South--India, South Africa, Mozambique, Colombia, and Brazil--De Sousa Santos and his colleagues show how, in some cases, the deepening of democracy results from the development of dual forms of participatory and representative democracy, and points to the emergence of transnational networks of participatory democracy initiatives. Such networks pave one of the ways to the reinvention of social emancipation. Contributors include: D.L. Sheth, Sakhela Buhlungu, Rodrigo Uprimny, Mauricio Garcia Villegas, Shamim Meer, Conceicao Osorio, Maria Jose Arthur, Francisco Gutierrez Sanin, Ana Maria Jaramillo, Maria Clemencia Ramirez, Mauricio Romero, Maria Teresa Uribe de H, Leonardo Avritzer, Patrick Heller, T.M. Thomas Isaac, and Emir Sader.
Democratizing Democracy: Beyond the Liberal Democratic Canon
The major conflicts between the Global North and the South can be expected to result from the confrontation of alternative conceptions of democracy, mainly between liberal or representative democracy and participatory...
