Direct Action and Democracy TodayMore and more people around the world are protesting to defend their rights, resist injustice or oppose undemocratic rule. In this book, April Carter debates the nature and meaning of such protest and discusses the relationship between direct action and people's claims for greater democratic control, not only against repressive regimes but also in liberal parliamentary states. The book begins by looking at non-violent direct action in historical context, tracing its evolution from the end of the Second World War to the present day. It examines the association between direct action and the social movements of recent decades and charts its role in the new global movement against neo-liberal economic policies. The second part of the book relates direct action to political theory to ascertain how it fits with theories of liberal, republican and deliberative democracy. It goes on to consider socialist and cosmopolitan approaches to democracy and popular resistance and concludes by looking at the implications of protest politics for current democratic thinking and contemporary world events. This book will be a valuable resource for students and scholars of international politics and political theory. |
Contents
Past and Present | 1 |
Is Liberal Democracy Nonviolent? | 37 |
The Role for Direct Action | 68 |
The Role of Global Resistance | 107 |
Liberal Democratic Theory Direct Action and Globalization | 157 |
Republicanism Deliberative Democracy and Critiques | 176 |
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Aboriginal activists activity American Arendt argued boycotts Britain Cambridge campaigns capitalism central challenge chapter citizens citizenship civil disobedience claims commitment concept context corporations countries Court cracy create cultural dams debate deliberative democracy demo democratic deficit demonstrations despite direct democracy domination economic elections environmental example feminist force forms of direct Gandhi global civil society global neoliberalism groups Guardian guerrilla guerrilla warfare human rights Ibid indigenous individual institutions issues Klein labour Left Review liberal democracy linked London major mass ment military multinationals neoliberal nonviolent direct action nonviolent resistance Ogoni opposed opposition organizations participatory participatory democracy parties peace political popular pressure promote protest radical regimes representative republican resistance response role social movements socialist strike struggle suggests symbolic tactics theorists theory tion trade unions transnational University Press violence western Whilst women workers World Bank World Social Forum