European inventory of
societal values of culture

Tully et al. - Democratic Multiplicity

Tully, J., Cherry, K., Forman, F., Morefield, J., Nichols, J., Ouziel, P., Owen, D., & Schmidtke, O. (Eds.) (2022). Democratic Multiplicity: Perceiving, Enacting, and Integrating Democratic Diversity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1009178389

In this recent edited volume, agonistic politics is seen as compatible with a democratic perspective, provided the notion of democratic diversity is taken seriously and spread in all its dimensions, i.e., through representative institutions, participatory democracy, expression of dissent through different types of populism, and new relations towards nature and non-humans.

The authors of the essays collected in this book argue that democracy is broader and more diverse than the dominant state-centred, modern representative democracies, to which other modes of democracy are either presumed subordinate or ignored. Rather, they argue that through differently situated participatory and representative practices, citizens and governments can develop democratic ways of cooperating without hegemony and subordination, and that these relationships can be transformative.

Such an approach seeks to overcome the standard opposition between democracy from below (participatory) and democracy from above (representative). The premise is that new democratic practices and constellations could lead to a more interdependent and sustainable system. Non-violence, pluralism, and agonistic engagement with the natural world are seen as possibilities to further expand democracies' futures. This contrasts with politics built on force, coercion, and non-cooperation, where power is concentrated in competing ‘us and them’ camps.

The issue of the integration of democratic multiplicity appears central. It can be directly applied to a conception of cultural policy that is both respectful of diversity and heterogeneity on one side and attached to unity and coherence on the other.