Boris Vormann Lunchtime Talk: Part I: The Crisis of Democracy so Far
Tuesday, November 6, 2018
Arendt Center
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
This event occurred on:
Tue. November 6, 12 pm – 1 pm
Part I: The Crisis of Democracy so Far
As the post-Cold War ascent of liberal triumphalism has come to an abrupt end, renationalization proliferates across otherwise wildly different political systems and social contexts. What exactly lies at the core of the wide-spread dissatisfaction with the status quo? Are the crisis phenomena in Europe comparable to developments in the United States and elsewhere? And how could these crises of liberal democracy possibly be overcome? As I contend, populism across North Atlantic states is not the cause of a crisis of governance, but its result. The predicament we find ourselves in has been many decades in the making and it is intricately linked to the rise of a certain type of political philosophy and practice.
Conceptualizing globalization as inevitable and ultimately beneficial to all, the decision-makers of the so-called Third Way sought to attain the values of political liberalism—such as religious freedom, freedom of speech, and gender equality—through the means of economic liberalization the expansion of markets. This nexus is rapidly unravelling and the notion that democracy and efficiency are compatible, even mutually reinforcing, no longer seems to ring true.
Boris Vormann is a professor of politics at Bard College Berlin. He has held visiting research and teaching positions at the CUNY Graduate Center, Freie Universität Berlin, Harvard University, and New York University. His most recent books are Global Port Cities in North America: Urbanization Processes and Global Production Networks from Routledge (2015); a handbook on U.S. politics and policy (Springer VS, 2016); and a monograph on the crisis of democracy, co-authored with Christian Lammert (Aufbau Verlag, 2017). His long-term research project examines the role of states in building the urban infrastructures of expanding global trade networks.
Invitation Only
Please RSVP to [email protected]
Part I: The Crisis of Democracy so Far
As the post-Cold War ascent of liberal triumphalism has come to an abrupt end, renationalization proliferates across otherwise wildly different political systems and social contexts. What exactly lies at the core of the wide-spread dissatisfaction with the status quo? Are the crisis phenomena in Europe comparable to developments in the United States and elsewhere? And how could these crises of liberal democracy possibly be overcome? As I contend, populism across North Atlantic states is not the cause of a crisis of governance, but its result. The predicament we find ourselves in has been many decades in the making and it is intricately linked to the rise of a certain type of political philosophy and practice.
Conceptualizing globalization as inevitable and ultimately beneficial to all, the decision-makers of the so-called Third Way sought to attain the values of political liberalism—such as religious freedom, freedom of speech, and gender equality—through the means of economic liberalization the expansion of markets. This nexus is rapidly unravelling and the notion that democracy and efficiency are compatible, even mutually reinforcing, no longer seems to ring true.
Boris Vormann is a professor of politics at Bard College Berlin. He has held visiting research and teaching positions at the CUNY Graduate Center, Freie Universität Berlin, Harvard University, and New York University. His most recent books are Global Port Cities in North America: Urbanization Processes and Global Production Networks from Routledge (2015); a handbook on U.S. politics and policy (Springer VS, 2016); and a monograph on the crisis of democracy, co-authored with Christian Lammert (Aufbau Verlag, 2017). His long-term research project examines the role of states in building the urban infrastructures of expanding global trade networks.
Invitation Only
Please RSVP to [email protected]