When Trees Fall, Monkeys Scatter: Rethinking Democracy in China Predictions of an imminent collapse of Chinese politics are today commonplace. However, Australian Professor John Keane explores a radically different alternative in his thought-provoking book When Trees Fall, Monkeys Scatter: Rethinking Democracy...
Read MoreThe Australia-China Relations Institute (ACRI) at the University of Technology Sydney welcomed John Keane, Professor of Politics at the University of Sydney, to discuss his new book When trees fall, monkeys scatter (World Scientific, 2017). In the global China debate, When trees...
Read MoreJohn Keane, University of Sydney During the past year, The Conversation and the Sydney Democracy Network, a global partnership of researchers, journalists, activists, policymakers and citizens concerned with the future of democracy, have published a lengthy series of scholarly reflections on...
Read MorePolitical scientist and author John Keane on the recent proliferation of corrupt political regimes that employ democratic rhetoric, staged elections, social media and economic growth to cultivate public loyalty and give the appearance of legitimacy. Presented by Peter Mares. "These rulers...
Read MoreSunday 11 June 2017 10:30AM IMAGE: HOW WELL IS OUR DEMOCRATIC POLITICAL SYSTEM SET UP FOR THE FUTURE? (LINK TO LARGER IMAGE. / Flickr CC BY 2.0) It’s been four years since we last spoke with leading democracy scholar John Keane. Back then he...
Read MoreWith the likes of Pablo Iglesias and Ada Colau coming to power in Spain, we are witnessing the rise of the ‘post-representatives’. Barcelona En Comú/flickr, CC BY-SA Ramón Andrés Feenstra, Universitat Jaume I; Andreu Casero-Ripolles, Universitat Jaume I; John Keane, University of...
Read More约翰·基恩(John Keane), 悉尼大学 古希腊人知道，民主制度可能毁于富人与权贵之手。蛊惑人心的政客暗中支持他们以人民的名义统治人民。希腊人甚至发明了一个(现在已不再使用的)动词来形容人民是如何在掌握权力的幻觉中被统治的。他们将它称之为: demokrateo。而我们则正好需要这一词汇来理解现代民粹主义中的矛盾。民粹主义是民主政治的一个现象。数百万人感到愤怒、无力、不再受到社会的关注，于是他们运用民主政治中的各项自由权利，集结起来进行公开的抗议。分析家 D.W.温尼科特运用 demokrateo 这个概念提出警告:那些感到失落的人们正在反击。人们感到被羞辱之时，就是民粹主义兴起之日。他们会毫不吝啬地支持那些允诺给予他们尊严的煽动者。他们这样做并不是因为“天生”渴望领袖，或者屈从于福柯所说血脉中的“法西斯主义”。民粹主义之所以如此诱人，是因为它能唤起人们对改善生活的期望。但这样的改善是有代价的。作为允诺人民主权的交换，民粹主义很容易大量塑造一些像波拿巴、墨索里尼、欧尔班和埃尔多安一般的典型形象。与 19 世纪专注于解放运动的民粹主义不同，今天的民粹主义常常引发排外的效果。要求对话或者错误地期待民粹主义会走向自我毁灭早已不是能阻止demokrateo 蔓延的良方。我们需要一些更加激进的民主:公平地重新分配权力、福利和机会，并以此来证明民粹主义只是一种虚假的民主。曾经，这样对政治权力进行重新分配的活动被称为“民主制”、“福利国家”或“社会主义”。 Ancient Greeks knew democracy could be snuffed out by rich and powerful aristoi backed by demagogues ruling the people in their own name. They even had a verb (now obsolete) for describing how...
Read MoreAnti-Park protesters in Seoul stage a candlelight vigil calling for her impeachment and arrest. Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters Political scientists trained or based in the Atlantic region have a bad habit of ignoring trends in our Asia-Pacific region. When they do pay attention to...
Read Moreمرگ رییسجمهور ترامپ جان کین | مترجم: داریوش محمدپور مرگ رییسجمهور ترامپ پرسشهایی دربارهی روح آشفته و نهادهای رنجور دموکراسی معاصر جان کین | ترجمه: داریوش محمدپور [caption id="attachment_26559" align="aligncenter" width="600"] جولین لیک/AAP[/caption] ما در زمانه تاریکی زندگی میکنیم پس جای آن است که کمی طنز...
Read MoreWe live in darkening times, so it’s time for some dark humour. Inspired by the antics of a Big Man with a Big Mouth, think just for a moment about the important subject of how democracies treat their elected leaders. When...
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