Democracy in Question?
86 episodes - English - Latest episode: 8 days ago - ★★★★★ - 10 ratingsToday, liberal democracies are under unprecedented strain from within and without. In each episode, renowned social anthropologist Shalini Randeria invites a leading scholar to explore the challenges and dilemmas facing democracies around the world. They investigate what needs to be done to ensure the future well-being of our democratic institutions and practices.
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Episodes
Imminent Scenarios in Ukraine
March 30, 2022 11:00 - 35 minutes - 32.4 MBGuests featured in this episode: Slawomir Sierakowski, a Polish sociologist and political analyst, with extensive knowledge of not only Ukraine and Russia, but also the potential third party in the current war, Belarus. He is also the founder and editor-in-chief of the Krytyka Polityczna (Political Critique) magazine. His more than 400 articles and op-eds include not only publications in Polish, but regular monthly columns in the international edition of The New York Times and Project Syndi...
Geopolitics of the War in Ukraine
March 16, 2022 12:00 - 35 minutes - 32.4 MBGuests featured in this episode Georgi Derluguian, Professor of Social Research and Public Policy at New York University’s Abu Dhabi campus. Born in the Soviet Union, Georgie then experienced its breakup as a young social scientist. Having pursued African studies in Moscow, Georgi spent two years in Mozambique during the civil war in the 1980s, and then moved to the United States right after that to work with Immanuel Wallerstein, graduating with a PhD in sociology from the State Univers...
The Genealogy of Illiberalism
March 02, 2022 13:00 - 39 minutes - 36.3 MBGuests featured in this episode: Renata Uitz, is the co-editor of Handbook of Illiberalism, who has contributed two chapters to it as well. Renata is also professor of Comparative Constitutional Law at the Central European University, Vienna, as well as the co-director of its Democracy Institute in Budapest. Helena Rosenblatt is a professor of history, French, and political theory at the Graduate Center of The City University of New York, and the author of both Liberal Values: Benjamin C...
Freedom of Expression in an Unequal World
February 09, 2022 12:00 - 32 minutes - 30 MBGuests featured in this episode: Irene Khan, the first woman to ever hold the mandate of UN Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Opinion and Expression. She is also a Distinguished Fellow and Research Associate at the Graduate Institute's Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy. Previously, Irene Khan was Secretary-General of Amnesty International (2001-2009) and Director-General of the International Development Law Organization (2010 to 2019). Democracy in Question? is brought to you by...
Governance in Illiberal Democracies
January 26, 2022 12:00 - 34 minutes - 31.8 MBGuests featured in this episode: Professor Andras Sajo, former judge at the European Court of Human Rights & founding Dean of Legal Studies Department at the Central European University, Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: Novel Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @CEU • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @AHDCentre S...
Holding Power Accountable with Investigative Journalism
January 12, 2022 12:00 - 32 minutes - 30 MBDemocracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Central European University: CEU • The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD • The Podcast Company: Novel Follow us on social media! • Central European University: @CEU • Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @AHDCentre Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks! BIBLIOGRAPHY The Watchdog That Didn't Bark: The Fi...
Populism and democracy’s ‘critical infrastructure
December 08, 2021 12:00 - 35 minutes - 32 MBGlossary for DiQ ep 7 series 3 – Jan Werner Müller Who was Alexis de Tocqueville? (pg. 1 tocquevillian question of the transcript or 00:1:08) French sociologist and political theorist Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859) traveled to the United States in 1831 to study its prisons and returned with a wealth of broader observations that he codified in “Democracy in America” (1835), one of the most influential books of the 19th century. With its trenchant observations on equality and individualis...
The Right to Belong
November 24, 2021 12:00 - 30 minutes - 28.3 MBGlossary Who is Hannah Arendt? (00: 2: 08 or page 1) Hannah Arendt (1906–1975) was one of the most influential political philosophers of the twentieth century. Born into a German-Jewish family, she was forced to leave Germany in 1933 and lived in Paris for the next eight years, working for a number of Jewish refugee organisations. In 1941 she immigrated to the United States and soon became part of a lively intellectual circle in New York. She held a number of academic positions at...
The Role of Radio in Transitions to Democracy
November 10, 2021 12:00 - 31 minutes - 28.5 MBThe episode explores the role of locally embedded news and media organizations in facilitating citizen participation in societies seeking to further democracy. In the age of misinformation, can the patient and steady pace of radio journalism prove to be a much-needed democratic corrective? In the discussion, Caroline Vuillemine and Said Nazir examine the role of the radio and the opportunities facing this medium of public communication. Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • Cen...
Biopolitics from Below
October 27, 2021 11:00 - 34 minutes - 31.6 MBThis episode explores with Ranabir Samaddar the specific nature of democratic politics during the COVID-19 crisis. Anchored in the specificity of the experience of the pandemic in India, the episode also addresses the global transformation of politics in a time of crisis. How has the pandemic changed our understanding of politics? What does it mean to refocus on life as the primary object of politics? And what does the COVID-19 crisis reveal about the nature of the contemporary Indian state ...
Challenges of the Israeli democracy today
October 13, 2021 11:00 - 33 minutes - 30.8 MBThe episode explores with Avrum Burg the challenges with which the Israeli democracy is confronted. As Israel stands at the crossroads after the defeat of its longest serving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with his expansionist politics, which have marked the country's territorial expansion over the last decades, this episode asks: Will the new eight party coalition government mark the beginnings of a fight against the radicalization of the Israeli state and society? And what are the l...
Language and public discourse in the success of right-wing political movements
September 29, 2021 14:05 - 30 minutes - 27.7 MBWhat is the nature of the linguistic and discursive repertoires of contemporary right-wing mobilizations in Europe? In this episode of Democracy in Question, presenter Shalini Randeria continues the conversation about the rise of radical right-wing political movements in recent years across the world with Ruth Wodak, Emeritus Distinguished Professor at Lancaster University, and visiting professor at CEU. Together they explore the role of language and public discourse in the scheme of things,...
The struggle for voting rights in the US today
September 15, 2021 11:45 - 32 minutes - 30.1 MBThe most pernicious assault on American democracy today are the laws and measures enacted in various state legislatures under Republican control that aim at voter restriction. Among the foremost voices in the struggle for democratic rights in the United States is Stacey Abrams, U.S. politician and activist. Her campaign for protecting voting rights and resisting disenfranchisement of black and other minority voters has been central in pushing back against these insidious moves that dismantle...
Is "fascism" a useful concept to understand the pathologies of US politics, past and present?
August 25, 2021 23:00 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBThe current rise of right wing populist leaders in democracies around the world, from Donald Trump to Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, has led to a debate on the fuzziness of these new regimes that are eroding liberalism by incorporating totalitarian features. Some argue that the term ‘fascist’ would be useful in understanding the nature of politics in these countries, while others warn against an inflationary use of the term. We close the second season of the podcast by asking Professor Jason Sta...
Does 'fascism' help us analyze the pathologies of US politics, past and present?
August 25, 2021 23:00 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBThe current rise of right wing populist leaders in democracies around the world, from Donald Trump to Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, has led to a debate on the fuzziness of these new regimes that are eroding liberalism by incorporating totalitarian features. Some argue that the term ‘fascist’ would be useful in understanding the nature of politics in these countries, while others warn against an inflationary use of the term. We close the second season of the podcast by asking Professor Jason Sta...
Can the concept of "fascism" be used to understand the pathologies of US politics, past and present?
August 25, 2021 23:00 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBThe current rise of right wing populist leaders in democracies around the world, from Donald Trump to Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, has led to a debate on the fuzziness of these new regimes that are eroding liberalism by incorporating totalitarian features. Some argue that the term ‘fascist’ would be useful in understanding the nature of politics in these countries, while others warn against an inflationary use of the term. We close the second season of the podcast by asking Professor Jason Sta...
Why are reproductive rights so contentious in the US and Argentina?
August 11, 2021 23:00 - 29 minutes - 27.3 MBThere is considerable political mobilization and legal contention around Reproductive rights in many democracies around the world. In the US, a rollback of these rights has been underway over the past decades. The Supreme Court is likely to (re)consider its landmark 1973 Roe v Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. In contrast, activists have made progress on reproductive rights elsewhere in the world. Only a few months ago, Argentina legalised abortions up to the 14th week of preg...
When and how is power visible in politics?
July 28, 2021 23:00 - 25 minutes - 23.3 MBPower is a crucial, if essentially contested, concept. Its nature and exercise in democratic politics are not always easily grasped. Understanding who holds power, how it is used, and the relationship between those who govern and those who are governed, is critical in any political system. Professor Steven Lukes (formerly NYU) helps us figure out how to map power in politics and explains when and how it is visible. Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • The Institute for Human ...
How can we structure digital spaces more democratically?
July 15, 2021 23:00 - 25 minutes - 23.1 MBDigital technologies have changed and are changing our world. But the euphoria about these technologies not only improving connectivity, but creating a global public sphere have given way to caution about their impact. With the increasing monopolization of digital infrastructure and accumulation of power by a few giant Big Tech companies, there is increasing concern over its impact on our freedoms, as well as the ways in which it shapes how we live and perceive the world. In this episode, E...
Can democracy survive in Hong Kong?
June 30, 2021 23:00 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBThe pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong is facing its most severe crisis today. The Chinese government has been tightening its grip over the island to stifle political protest, impose restrictions on freedom of press, and hamper free and fair elections. Activists have been fighting for civil liberties and democratic rights, from the Umbrella Revolution of 2014 to the huge anti-extradition law demonstrations in 2020. Jean-Pierre Cabestan (Hong Kong Baptist University) explores the events lea...
What keeps democracies alive?
June 16, 2021 23:00 - 29 minutes - 27.4 MBOver the series, our focus has often been on the serious challenges that democracies face all over the world today. We have also highlighted how they can and are degenerating and morphing into authoritarianism. But this episode flips the perspective to understand how we can foster and nurture democratic spaces and practices in our societies. Professor Till Van Rahden (Université de Montréal) discusses why we should move beyond an institutional view of democracy as a system of government. We...
What is the legacy of Egypt’s Arab Spring, 10 years on?
June 02, 2021 23:00 - 30 minutes - 27.5 MB10 years ago anti-government protests in Tunisia sparked a wave of spontaneous uprisings against authoritarian regimes in the Middle East and North Africa. The Arab Spring was met with repression by governments in the region, but ultimately led to the ousting of rulers such as Ben Ali in Tunisia, Muammar Gaddafi in Libya and Hosni Mubarak in Egypt. But the hope that these changes would usher a new era of democracy in the region has been belied. Michael Wahid Hanna (International Crisis Grou...
What ails Indian democracy today?
May 19, 2021 23:00 - 44 minutes - 40.6 MBMost western academics were skeptical about the future of India, the world’s largest democracy, throughout the 1950s to the 1970s. It succeeded beyond all expectations in mobilizing large-scale electoral participation especially among poor and illiterate voters. And yet today its very existence seems to hang in the balance as the country faces a deep crisis of liberal, secular democratic norms, values and institutional practices. Freedom House even downgraded India from a free democracy to ...
Does liberalism need reinvention in the 21st century?
May 05, 2021 23:00 - 27 minutes - 25.1 MBThe decline and even death of liberalism has been predicted often. Today it faces challenges not only from populism in Europe and the US but also from China offering an illiberal alternative that may prove attractive to leaders in the global South. In this episode, Professor Timothy Garton Ash (University of Oxford) joins us to analyze the future of liberalism. We discuss what liberalism can learn from its mistakes to emerge stronger. Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • The ...
Covid-19: How can we democratize vaccine access?
April 21, 2021 23:00 - 29 minutes - 27.5 MBCovid-19 vaccines have been developed in record time and are being distributed around the world. But issues like vaccine hesitancy, slow production and unequal access between as well as within countries are inhibiting the global vaccination progress needed to combat the pandemic. In this first episode of season 2, we’re joined by Dr. Suerie Moon (Graduate Institute) to explore how vaccine nationalism and patents pose obstacles to increasing vaccine production. Democracy in Question? is ...
Democracy from below: What real utopias can we build on?
February 25, 2021 09:00 - 26 minutes - 24.1 MBCitizens have a crucial role to play in political life and can have tremendous power, as they come together in associations and social movements. To close this first season, Professor Mary Kaldor (London School of Economics) lends us her experience as both an academic and an activist in the peace and human rights movements to discuss what role civil society plays in keeping democracy alive and healthy, and what real utopias we can build on. Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: ...
Can liberal democracy outlive climate change?
February 11, 2021 09:00 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MBPrior to the Covid 19 pandemic, the issue on everyone’s minds was climate change. Scientists have been raising the alarm for the good part of three decades, but politicians the world over have been slow to react, even as more citizens have been calling for radical action. In this episode, we're joined by Michael Ignatieff (Central European University) to find out whether liberal democracy is up for the fight against climate change, and whether that fight could affect the political system it...
How do economic inequalities corrode democratic processes?
January 28, 2021 10:00 - 28 minutes - 25.9 MBCapitalism has come under attack in recent years, notably because of growing economic inequalities not only between the global North and South, but also within Western countries. Some critics even cast doubt on its legitimacy and ability to create and preserve a just and equitable society. In this episode, the economist Branko Milanovic helps us understand how economic inequalities systematically corrode democratic processes. Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • The Institute fo...
How does austerity politics weaken democracy?
January 14, 2021 10:00 - 25 minutes - 23.6 MBSince the introduction of neoliberal policies under Thatcher and Reagan many countries worldwide have implemented austerity politics that dismantled social security programs by cutting public funding. Our guest today, the renowned British economist, Lord Skidelsky has argued that liberal democracy rests on a welfare state, so that austerity politics and the rise of populism in the West are interlinked. So this time we ask: can liberal democracy co-exist with a politics austerity? Democracy...
What will remain of Trumpism going forward?
December 18, 2020 13:31 - 29 minutes - 26.7 MBJoe Biden was declared the next president of the United States over a month ago now, but Donald Trump has not yet conceded his defeat. Claiming voter fraud, he has launched legal battles to try to undo the results of the election, to no avail. What mechanisms, institutions and narratives has he used? And to what long term effects? In this episode, we’re joined by Professor Timothy Snyder (Yale University) and Ivan Krastev (Centre for Liberal Strategies and IWM) to understand what will remai...
‘Soft authoritarianism’, a new face of electoral democracy?
December 03, 2020 09:00 - 25 minutes - 23.6 MBA new kind of elected leader has emerged across the globe: one who rules with a large parliamentary majority and with a claim to democratic legitimacy, but who uses power to hollow out democracy from the inside. So is such ‘soft authoritarianism’ a new face of electoral democracy? Professor John Keane (University of Sydney) helps us dissect this pervasive pattern of new despotisms and their strategies of rule. Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • The Institute for Human Scienc...
Can liberal democracy right the wrongs of racial and gender injustices?
November 19, 2020 09:00 - 23 minutes - 21.8 MBWe have recently seen millions of people taking to the streets to protest social, political and environmental injustices. Even a global pandemic couldn’t stop protesters across the world from showing their support to the Black Lives Matter movement. In this episode, we’re joined by Professor Nancy Fraser(The New School) and ask: can liberal democracy provide the distributive justice citizens seem to crave? Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • The Institute for Human ...
Undermining democracy by democratic means: how can we stop it?
November 04, 2020 23:00 - 26 minutes - 24.3 MBAs the results of the 2020 US election are trickling in, we are taking a look at how laws - and notably electoral laws - can be used to undermine constitutional systems from within. Our guest Professor Kim Lane Scheppele (Princeton University) helps us understand how a new kind of elected leader is using their democratic mandates to take the whole system apart, how they are getting away with it and what we can do to stop it. Democracy in Question? is brought to you by: • The I...
Can and should Western style democracy be exported far and wide?
October 22, 2020 06:30 - 25 minutes - 23.5 MBThe world is more formally democratic than ever before, if measured by the number of countries that have a representative form of government. But how viable is the Western model of liberal democracy as it travels to, and is transplanted in, different countries around the world? In this episode Professor Laurence Whitehead (Oxford University) and Dr. Yanina Welp (Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy, Graduate Institute, Geneva) examine these issues against the background of the trajectories o...
American democracy: a Trumpian blip or a deeper malaise?
October 08, 2020 10:30 - 25 minutes - 23.6 MBAmerica is split into apparently irreconcilable political tribes and led by a highly divisive President who is upending democratic norms. The country is also being shaken by demonstrations against racial injustice and a severe economic downturn wrought by the mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic. Is American democracy having a momentary crisis or is it facing an existential threat? Professor Timothy Snyder (Yale University) joins us to investigate. Further readings: Timothy Snyder’s book...
Introducing Democracy in Question
September 24, 2020 13:23 - 2 minutes - 1.93 MBLiberal democracies are under unprecedented strain from within and without. Join renowned social anthropologist Shalini Randeria and leading scholars for an exploration of the challenges democracies are facing around the world. Subscribe now! Find out more about our work on Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy and on IWM. If you have any questions or feedback, you can email us at [email protected]. This podcast is produced by Richard Miron and Anouk Millet from Earshot Str...