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Democracy

Democracy: Laurie Taylor explores the forces and practices that threaten or promote democracy.

Democracy: Quinn Slobodian, Professor of the History of Ideas at Wellesley College, takes Laurie Taylor on the journey of radical libertarians who search for the perfect home, free from the burden of democratic oversight, from Hong Kong to Canary Wharf and the Honduras. What accounts for the explosion of new legal entities, including free ports, gated enclaves, city states and special economic zones?

They're joined by Mukulika Banerjee, Associate Professor of Anthropology at the London School of Economics, whose latest study into the lives of West Bengal villagers finds that they promote democratic values in everyday acts of citizenship at a time when Indian democracy is under threat. How do their creative practices around kinship, farming and religion promote republican virtues of cooperation, civility, solidarity and vigilance?

Producer: Jayne Egerton

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29 minutes

Last on

Mon 1 May 2023 00:15
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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Guests and Further Reading

- ΜύProfessor of the History of Ideas at Wellesley College

Crack-Up Capitalism: Market Radicals and the Dream of a World Without Democracy by Quinn Slobodian (Penguin Books)

Μύ

- Associate Professor of Anthropology at the London School of Economics

Cultivating Democracy and Citizenship in Agrarian India by Mukulika Banerjee (Oxford University Press)

Broadcasts

  • Wed 26 Apr 2023 16:00
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
  • Mon 1 May 2023 00:15
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Thinking Allowed is produced in partnership with The Open University

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