Strong Democracy: Participatory Politics for a New Age by was published by the in 1984 and republished in a twentieth anniversary edition in 2004. A classic of democratic theory, the book argues that representative or 'thin' democracy is rooted in an individualistic 'rights' perspective that diminishes the role of citizens in democratic governance. The work offers a theoretical critique of or liberal democracy and a foundation for. The final chapter elucidates practical ways to apply the theory of strong democracy in large industrial societies. Strong democracy is also discussed in The Local Politics of Global Sustainability by Herman Daly, Thomas Prugh and Robert Costanza (2000), and is defined as 'Politics understood as the creation of a vision that can respond to and change with the changing world.' The authors go on to describe strong democracy thus: In a strong democracy, people –citizens – govern themselves to the greatest extent possible rather than delegate their power and responsibility to representatives acting in their names.

• Benjamin Barber Strong Democracy Summary
• Benjamin Barber Strong Democracy

Strong democracy does not mean politics as a way of life, as an all-consuming job, game, and, as it is for so many professional politicians. But it does mean politics (citizenship) as a way of living: an expected element of one’s life. It is a prominent and natural role, such as that of “parent” or “neighbor”. Contents. Background Advocates for strengthening democratic institutions and practices in the United States were convened beginning in 2008 under the title of Strengthening Our Nation’s Democracy (SOND). The convenings brought together advocates of, media reform, service and immigrant civic inclusion to identify how they could better collaborate with one another.

Among the convening organizations of Strengthening Our Nation's Democracy were, and faculty from Harvard's Ash Center for Democratic Innovation and Governance. As a result of the convenings, the groups formed a coalition called the. Critique of Liberal 'Thin' Democracy 'Liberal,'Thin,' or 'Representative' democracy was criticized throughout the 19th century by leading anarchists, such as, and. In fact, Kropotkin's essay in Words of a Rebel, 1885, can be regarded as a locus classicus of such criticism. Instead of a bottom-up democracy, with a direct democracy or local elections for only local offices, liberal democracy consists of huge masses of people voting for political offices. Winning a mass election is normally a function of how much money is used for advertisement, and, thus, results in a rule by oligarchs, or plutocracy, Barber posits that the radical individualism that underpins liberal theory and practice actually fundamentally undermines democracy. This weak democracy produces less legitimate outcomes than under a stronger democratic structure.

Barber also criticizes the liberal construction of the, claiming that traditionalists influenced primarily by view man and law as mere abstractions, which contributes to isolationism within society and a series of emergent pathologies. Dispositions of Liberal Democracy Barber dissects liberalism into three main dispositions, each representing a certain posture towards conflict and the relationship between the individual and the state. Anarchist. Idealist. Radical individualist.

Essays and criticism on Benjamin Barber - Critical Essays. Document PDF. This Page Only; Entire Study. Insisting that “at the heart of strong democracy is. A Place for Us: How to Make Society Civil and Democracy Strong (1998). Saward, Michael (2012), 'A conversation with Benjamin Barber.' , in Browning, Gary.

Conflict-denying Realist. Strong statist protection of individual rights. Conflict-suppressing Minimalist. Pluralist. Conflict-tolerating See also. References.

– Cool Cities: Urban Sovereignty and the Fix for Global Warming In the final book from the great visionary Dr. Benjamin Barber, this sequel to If Mayors Ruled the World assesses both broad principles of urban rights and specific strategies of sustainability such as fracking bans, walkable cities, above‑ground mining of precious resources, energy and heating drawn from garbage incineration, downtown wind turbines, and skyscrapers built from wood.

He shows how cities working together on climate change, despite their differences in wealth, development, and culture, can find common measures by which to evaluate the radically different policies they pursue. This is a book for a world in which bold cities are collaborating to combat climate change and inspire hope for democracy even as reactionary populists take over national governments in the United States and Europe. It calls for a new social contract among citizens and municipalities to secure not only their sustainability but their survival.

If Mayors Ruled the World: Dysfunctional Nations, Rising Cities The issues dominating our headlines – global warming, terrorism, economic inequality – do not stop at national borders. Nonetheless, our chief means of addressing them remains the nation-state, a 17th century framework constitutionally unable, and temperamentally unwilling, to collaborate across frontiers in order to solve common problems. What is to be done? Let cities, through a global “Parliament of Mayors,” run the world.

Benjamin Barber Strong Democracy Summary

This is the bold thesis of Dr. Barber in his upcoming book If Mayors Ruled the World. Consumed: How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize Adults, and Swallow Citizens Whole Barber offers a vivid portrait of an overproducing global economy that targets children as consumers in a market where there are never enough shoppers and where the primary goal is no longer to manufacture goods but needs. To explain how and why this has come about, Barber brings together extensive empirical research with an original theoretical framework for understanding our contemporary predicament. He asserts that in place of the Protestant ethic once associated with capitalism—encouraging self-restraint, preparing for the future, protecting and self-sacrificing for children and community, and other characteristics of adulthood—we are constantly being seduced into an “infantilist” ethic of consumption. Fear’s Empire: War, Terrorism, and Democracy in an Age of Interdependence Barber examines the controversial issues that underlie both the Cold War theory of containment and deterrence and the dilemmas faced by America today. He argues forcefully against unilateralism, nuclear deterrence, and reliance on military solutions.

And he inveighs against the tendency of recent administrations to confuse the spread of McWorld —that seductive blend of free-market ideology and American brands—with the spread of democracy.Barber argues for an America that promotes cooperation, multilateralism, international law, and pooled sovereignty. For as law and citizenship alone secure liberty within nations, law and citizenship alone can secure liberty among them, freeing them from fear.

Benjamin Barber Strong Democracy

McWorld: Terrorism’s Challenge to Democracy Just beyond the horizon of current events lie two possible political futures — both bleak, neither democratic. The first is a retribalization of large swaths of humankind by war and bloodshed: a threatened Lebanonization of national states in which culture is pitted against culture, people against people, tribe against tribe — a Jihad in the name of a hundred narrowly conceived faiths against every kind of interdependence, every kind of artificial social cooperation and civic mutuality. McWorld tied together by technology, ecology, communications, and commerce. February 17-19, 2016 Urban Thinkers Campus- Mannheim, Germany December 14, 2015 DT Lakdawala Memorial Lecture- Delhi, India 'If Mayors Ruled the World: Does this mean the same in Europe, the U.S., India, and China?' November 18-22, 2015 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam Featuring JIHAD vs McWORLD as theme November 7, 2015 National League of Cities- Nashville, TN May 29 Panel Video Ben Barber first contribution starts at 33mins 40secs.