What is Identity? In recent years politics has become a contestation between different forms of identity rather than interests. Identity has an almost ideological connotation. It is easy to become lost in emotions and hyperbole without any awareness of its actual role in political theory. Indeed, the earliest political philosophers did not mention identity at... Continue Reading →
Distinguishing the Law from the State Few political theories take the time to distinguish between the law and the state. This is a catastrophic mistake. This oversight begins with a neglect to reflect on the nature of institutions, but it also involves a carelessness with early political history. Early modern political theory did meditate on... Continue Reading →
Mike Hoffman shares his research on how religious identities shape support for and against efforts to democratize. He is a professor of political science at Notre Dame and the author of Faith in Numbers: Religion, Sectarianism, and Democracy. This is the 44th episode of the Democracy Paradox podcast. Doctrine is actually often a lot looser and... Continue Reading →
Rural consciousness has redefined the nature of identity politics as it shifts the dominant political conflicts from class to place. This is the second part of a series on political identity and its place within democratic theory. Rural Communities in Political Conflicts The divide between those dependent on an agricultural economy and an industrial economy... Continue Reading →
Only in the last ten years have scholars begun to think of the working class as a political identity rather than simply an economic status. The thoughts below are the first on a series of posts based on political identity. Justin Kempf reflects on working class as a political identity through a reflection of Arlie Russell... Continue Reading →
Kajri Jain joins the Democracy Paradox to discuss the relationship between democracy and the aesthetic. Her recent book Gods in the Time of Democracy explores the implications of the construction of large religious statues in India. The conversation explores ideas of the aesthetic, religion, Hindu Nationalism, Dalit identity, and the ways art shapes democracy. We don't... Continue Reading →
Tamanna Shah is the author of Kashmir in the Age of Modi: Democracy Delusions. Tamanna is in the PhD program at the University of Utah studying sociology. Her research has focused on conflict, war, and terrorism on the people of Kashmir. The photograph was provided by Tamanna from her field research in Jammu and Kashmir. This... Continue Reading →
Rest, Beloved is the work of Pyar Seth, a graduate student in the Department of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University. His research focuses on Black thought, health, policing, suffering, and violence to understand the public good, everyday life, and the political/bureaucratic processes that shape our understanding of epidemiological information concerning Black bodies. Pyar is... Continue Reading →
So many expectations burden democracy. There are conflicting expectations of representation. Some expect democracy to represent different viewpoints or ideologies while others expect a representation of diverse groups sorted by geography, gender, race, or other characteristics. There are expectations of merit. Leaders are expected to embody personal character, virtue, and most of all, leadership. But... Continue Reading →
Xiaoyu Pu joins the Democracy Paradox to explain how China's multiple global identities shape its foreign policy. This is the 23rd episode of the Democracy Paradox podcast and the second part of "Liberalism, Capitalism, Communism" about the Global Ascendance of China. China's Multiple Identities China is a nation of contradictions. It is a developing... Continue Reading →
