Erica Dorn
Democracy today is a colonial artefact tied to violent borders. Moreover, it produces an increasing number of non-citizens, unable to participate in democracy where they live. Erica Dorn and Federico Vaz argue that Gagnon's courageous enquiry into defining the historical landscape of democracy can bring more equity to its current – unjust – paradigm Read more
Ramon van der Does
Jean-Paul Gagnon views the construction of a taxonomy of democracy as a key way to address challenges to democracy. Yet, argues Ramon van der Does, such fundamental research is a luxury we cannot afford if we seek to be effective in bringing power to the people. Read more
Petr Špecián
The project of collecting democracy’s words has a quietist undertone. Petr Špecián argues that it provides a desirable counterweight to the activist urge to rethink and redesign the political order. Especially so in today’s challenging times Read more
Marlene Laruelle
Using the lens of illiberalism, writes Marlene Laruelle, we can explore the emergence of a new rightist resistance to the current social and moral order. Illiberalism interacts on a permanent basis with liberalism, and is a byproduct of neoliberal ideologies Read more
Marta Wojciechowska
Jean-Paul Gagnon’s project involves the collection, labelling, and organisation of published words on democracy. He intends it to help democratic scientists to counter authoritarianism. But, argues Marta Wojciechowska, the project’s method may overlook issues of power involved in creating and publishing meanings of democracy Read more
Andreas Avgousti
Andreas Avgousti asserts that collecting democracy’s words gives us a window into the democratic imagination. He reads Jean-Paul Gagnon’s expanding database as an illustration of democratic virtues Read more
Antonin Lacelle-Webster
Jean-Paul Gagnon’s ambitious project expands our democratic imaginaries. While inspiring, Antonin Lacelle-Webster argues that making sense of democracy requires more than a lexicon. Resisting the prevailing sense of disrepair in today’s democratic politics asks us to pay more attention to democracy's appropriation, design, and normative value Read more
Ruairidh Brown
In our contemporary world, dangers frequently come not from external enemies but from our own behaviour. To provide moral guidance on these dangers and help overcome the externalisation of threat, Ruairidh Brown looks back through time to St Augustine Read more
