Rewriting Democracy: Cultural Politics in Postmodernity

This volume addresses the problematic relationship between democratic institutions and the current critique of enlightenment and modernity. Since at least the beginning of the twentieth century, various cultural shifts have unsettled fundamental assumptions basic to the development of democratic institutions such as individual identity, the nature of political systems and egalitarian ideals. These changes have taken place across the range of cultural expression from science to politics, from art to economics. Can democracy survive these changes to the value systems upon which it has been based for over two centuries? This study does not focus on the often repeated particulars of past or current events such as 9/11 or the genocide in Darfur, but instead focuses on the terms and conditions under which it would be possible to prevent such events in the future.