Activism, Inclusion, and the Challenges of Deliberative Democracy

Product Description

This book exposes the structures that keep activists at the margins of political debates.

Democracy depends on its capacity to engage diverse viewpoints, but activists who amplify silenced voices often find themselves outside the deliberative process altogether. Activism, Inclusion, and the Challenges of Deliberative Democracy questions the effectiveness of political frameworks that shift activism to the margins, measuring its value only in terms of broader electoral outcomes. Following recent movements such as ACT UP and Black Lives Matter, Anna Drake exposes the oppressive structures that prevent activists from participating in policy debates as equals. If we are to see a democratic revival, Drake argues, we must engage activists on their own terms, apart from existing systems shaped by injustice.

Review

When many are considering the value in and strategy for engaging with ones' political opponents, this book offers the beginning of a model. -- Lesley J. Wood, York University ― Mobilization

This book offers a comprehensive and compelling study of deliberative democracy and activism. Anna Drake expertly dissects the shortcomings of well-meaning attempts to include activism in deliberative systems, elaborating an alternative account of “activism-as-deliberation” that values protest without co-opting it. -- William Smith, associate professor, Government and Public Administration, The Chinese University of Hong Kong


About the Author

Anna Drake is assistant professor of political science at the University of Waterloo.