Special Issue
Republicanism and Agonistic Democratic Theory
In recent decades, various theories have challenged what appears to be a hegemonic dominance of liberalism in at least three directions: economic, legal and the political dimension of the community. Among these, two stand out for the extent of their criticism. One of them is republicanism: from the sixties onwards it went through a significant revival due to the work of figures like Quentin Skinner, J. G. A. Pocock, and Philip Pettit. Republican criticism of liberalism seemed to come into being based on the very strength of liberalism, a theory of liberty. From here it went on to recover an understanding of the citizen, the law and power which questions basic principles of liberal theory as the “right”, “the State” and the possibility of vero vivere libero e civile in a kind of depoliticized society.
Meanwhile, from agonal democratic theory (Tully, Mouffe, Honig, etc.), a critique of liberalism regarding how far it immunized society from politics was developed. The understanding of the liberal state appears as an intrinsic denial of the possibility of conflict inherent in the political struggle. Thus, the “consensus” produced under the abstraction of the rule of law replaces the essential agonal character of democracy. If so, this raises the question as to how far expressions like “liberal democracy” and “representative democracy” are not oxymorons, constitutionally speaking.
In this volume, from a historical perspective and one of the philosophy of law and political theory, the following topics will be addressed:
- Genealogy of the foundational texts of republican theory(Greek, Roman, Italian, and Atlantic, respectively);
- Genealogy of the foundational texts of the agonistic democratic theory(continental andAnglo-Saxon);
- Critical responses to republicanism and agonal democratic theory;
- Theory of power and republicanism;
- Theory of power and agonal democracy;
- The anthropological idea underlying both theories;
- The possibilities (and impossibilities) of both views for constitutional theory;
- Democracy, representation, and constituent power in both traditions;
- The limitations of both theories;
- Responses from liberalism to these criticisms;
- Gender theory in light of republicanism and agonal democracy;
- Continuities and discontinuities of both traditions with a critical theory;
- Cosmopolitanism, liberalism, and republicanism;
- Queer citizenship: a perspective from these currents;
- Feminism and democracy;
- Natural law and liberal ideology;
- Athens and Rome as examples;
- Literature, republicanism, and democratic theory;
- Civil religion and democracy;
- Social contract, machismo, and republicanism;
- Women as image (or antithesis) in democratic and republican tradition;
- Astell&Wollstonecraft: a critique of male-centric liberalism;
- Race and imperialism in the democratic and republican tradition;
- Possibilities (impossibilities) of republican and democratic economic theory;
- Liberal justice, republican justice, democratic justice: contrasts and differences;
- Iconography, images, and art in republicanism and democracy.
Coordinator:
Gonzalo Bustamante Kuschel, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago de Chile.
Submissions deadline: 30 May 2017
Languages: English or Spanish
Date of publication: December 2017
The articles must be sent to contacto@revistapleyade.cl.
The manuscripts will be evaluated by a double-blind committee.
Instructions for Authors: http://www.revistapleyade.cl/pleyade/instrucciones-para-los-autores/