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Globalizing the Intellectual History of Democracy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2026

Samuel Moyn and
Jean-Paul GagnonOpen the ORCID record for Jean-Paul Gagnon[Opens in a new window]
Samuel Moyn*
Affiliation:
Yale Law School, Yale University and Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft
Jean-Paul Gagnon*
Affiliation:
University of Canberra and Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance
*
E-mail: samuel.moyn@yale.edu
E-mail: jean-paul.gagnon@canberra.edu.au
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Interview in brief

Samuel Moyn provides insight into how the history of democracy can continue its globalization. There is a growing belief that the currently acceptable fund of ideas has not served the recent past well which is why an expansion, a planetary one, of democracy's ideas is necessary – especially now as we move deeper into the shadow of declining American/Western imperialism and ideology. Deciding which of democracy's intellectual traditions to privilege is driven by a mix of forced necessity and choice: finding salient ground for democracy is likely only possible in poisoned traditions including European ones.

Keywords

intellectual historydemocracyglobalizationimperialismthe Westdecolonization

Information

Type
Discussion
Information
Democratic Theory , Volume 7 , Issue 1 , June 2020, pp. 99 - 107
Copyright
Copyright © Berghahn Books 2020

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