Welcome to the Radical Democracy website. We are a group of public intellectuals from around the world interested in exploring the concept of radical democracy in all its manifestations. Originally emerging out of a joint class held at Columbia University and The New School in New York City, our project has evolved into an annual conference, a radical democracy working group based here in New York, as well as plans for the first-ever Journal of Radical Democracy, which is currently in the works.
Radical Democracy – keynote lecture by Andrew Schaap
Keynote video from the 2nd annual Radical Democracy conference now up.
Andrew Schaap and the Aboriginal Tent Embassy
Sorry for the delay in getting the video up. More radical democracy videos on the way.
Thank You!
Thanks to everyone who presented or took part in the 2nd Annual Radical Democracy conference here in New York. We had two days of exciting conversations and ideas for all those in attendance to ponder over and debate. For those who could not make the conference, or who want to relive all the excitement again, we will be uploading the videos from the conference panels and keynote over the next week or two, so check back for that very soon!
2012 Keynote Speaker ~ Andrew Schaap
Keynote: Andrew Schaap (University of Exeter)
The Constituent Power of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, Canberra, 1972-
As a re-occupation of land immediately in front of Parliament House for six months in 1972, the Aboriginal Embassy was an inspiring demonstration of Aboriginal self-determination and land rights in Australia. Since 1972, demonstrators have maintained an Embassy on the site as part of the continuing Aboriginal struggle. Significantly, on its twentieth anniversary in 1992, Embassy protestors declared Aboriginal sovereignty just as the state-initiated formal reconciliation process was getting underway. Within mainstream public discourse in Australia, reconciliation is understood as aligned with a progressive politics. This paper examines the reactionary politics of reconciliation vis-à-vis the struggle for land rights and sovereignty that the Embassy embodies. Following Antonio Negri, the Embassy can be understood as one manifestation of the constituent power of Aboriginal people (and their non-Aboriginal supporters) that the Australian state appropriates to shore up its own defective claim to sovereignty.
Professor Schapp will be giving his keynote talk on Friday April 6th at The New School (3 PM in room 510, 66 W. 12th St.).
For more background on these issue take a look at the links below.
Gary Foley's Koori History Website Tent Embassy (documentary directed by Frances Peters-Little, 1992) National Museum of Australian, Collaborating for Indigenous Rights
Schedule Now Available for 2nd Annual RD Conference
Hello everyone!
We’re happy to announce that the schedule is now available for the 2nd annual Radical Democracy conference here in NYC. You can download a copy of the pdf schedule {right here} or scroll down to view the details.
Call for papers now closed
Thanks to everyone who submitted a paper or panel presentation for the 2nd Annual Radical Democracy Conference. We are now reviewing the submissions and hope to post updates about final panels and papers here very soon.
CFP – 2nd Annual Radical Democracy Conference
Second Annual Radical Democracy Conference Call for Papers
New York City. Co-hosted by Columbia University and the New School for Social Research
April 5-6, 2012, New York, NY
Keynote Address: Andrew Schaap, Politics, University of Exeter
Paper Abstracts and Panel Proposal Submission Deadline: January 20
Notification Date: February 10
Full Papers Deadline: March 19
[ Download CFP pdf ]
The Department of Politics at The New School for Social Research, in collaboration with the Institute of Comparative Literature and Society at Columbia University, is sponsoring a two-day graduate student conference interrogating the concept, history, practices and implications of radical democracy. Continue reading
Todd May keynote talk – Rancière and anarchic ‘government’
Radical Democracy Conference
Todd May Keynote Talk
Jacques Rancière and anarchic ‘government’
April 5, 2011
Post Conference Update – 2011
We want to thank everyone that came to the New School and Columbia and took part in a very successful two-day conference. We had a great time, and the discussions and presentations were quite stimulating. In the mean time, we are working on getting the videos from the conference edits and posted, hopefully starting with the final keynote paper by Todd May and the follow-up discussion. After that we will be working on posting the individual panel videos.
Some of us here at the New School are also discussing next steps to keep these ideas floating and the networks established flourishing. If you have any ideas, please be sure to let us know. Until then, stay tuned for more.
Consensus and Dissensus Panel
Consensus and Dissensus
Panel 3 Chair: Chiara Bottici, NSSR
Discussant: Gerasimos Karavitis, NSSR
Discussant: Juan Pablo Ferrero, University of Bath
Panel 3 Chair: Chiara Bottici, NSSR
Discussant: Gerasimos Karavitis, NSSR
Discussant: Juan Pablo Ferrero, University of Bath
Panelists:
“Interrogation vs. Interpretation: Speech, language and the moment of autonomy” — Marina Kaneti, Department of Politics, The New School for Social Research
“Political Relationship as Politics and Democracy in Ranciere’s ‘Ten Theses on Politics’” — Mykolas Gudelis, Department of Politics, The New School for Social Research
“Fragments of Democracy in a World in Fragments” — Victoria Briggs, School of Politics and International Relations, Queen Mary University of London
“Rethinking Carl Schmitt’s Radical Democratic Theory” — Sam BenMeir, Department of Philosophy, The New School for Social Research
April 4, 2011