Democracy is hailed around the world as the highest form of political organisation. However, transparency, accountability, and participation, key to a functioning democracy, has globally come under increasing threat. With rising statelessness across the world, the concept of citizenship itself is now under question.
Unpacking Participatory Democracy offers some ‘inclusive’ approaches to the ideas of development and democracy. Pitted against increasing global intolerance and exclusion, this volume asks: What is participatory democracy? Why is it important? What are the implications of participation within cultural, political, social, economic, religious, and secular contexts?
The authors come from diverse fields: academia, media, politics, and social activism. Together, they extend the concept of democracy to encompass multiple ideologues, ideologies, and philosophies, all centred on the engagement of people. They emphasise the need to ensure that all voices—especially the poor and the marginalised—are heard in the process of decision-making.
Editors
Magsaysay Award winner Aruna Roy is a social activist, professor, union organiser and former civil servant, has been living and working with people. She was the president of the National Federation of Indian Women and founder of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan.
Suchi Pande is Scholar in Residence, Accountability Research Center at American University in Washington DC. She was Secretary of the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information in India.
Abbreviations Acknowledgements Preface Prabhat Patnaik
Introduction Aruna Roy and Suchi Pande
Ohen:ton Karihwatehkwen Thanksgiving from the Mohawk Otsi’tsaken:ra (Charles Patton)
1. Unpacking Participatory Democracy in an Age of Reaction
Patrick Heller
2. Participation, Citizenship, and the Renewal of Social Democracy in the Time of Covid-19
John Harriss
3. Decentralisation for Creating Local Democratic Space The Case of the People’s Plan Campaign in Kerala T. M. Thomas Isaac
4. Populism, Information Disorders, and Erosion of Democracy The Case of Brazil Nandini Ramanujam and Paula Martins
5. Democracy Upended Lessons from Afghanistan Pearl Eliadis and Lucile Martin
6. Can Information Make the Subaltern Speak? Rajesh Veeraraghavan
7. Knowledge Panchayats Shiv Visvanathan
8. The Fiscal Dimension of Justice From Inequality, the Consequences of COVID, and Systemic Racism Vivek Ramkumar
9. Do Indians have a Right to Know their Foreign Donors? Inayat Sabhikhi
10. Speak for Us Democracy, Digital Media, and the Politics of Voice Sohini Sengupta
11. Safeguarding Democracy from Organised Information Manipulations Paid News, Fake News, and Hate Speech in India Vipul Mudgal
12. Flowering of India’s Democracy Wajahat Habibullah
13. When We Thought We Had All the Answers, Hindu Supremacy Changed the Questions Moyukh Chatterjee
A Coda Aruna Roy
Notes on the Contributors Index