Ordinary democracy: sovereignty and citizenship beyond the neoliberal impasse

"While various democratic theorists have looked at particular instances of recent social movements (Occupy or the Arab Spring, for example), none have yet attempted a more general theoretical take on what it is that relates all of these movements (if there is a thread), and what that running thread can tell us about democratic theory. This book argues that there is a commonality to these movements as well as a striking lesson about the nature of democracy, sovereignty, agency and solidarity today: in that these movements all highlight the ordinariness of neoliberal regimes and the ways in which citizens find solidarity and a sense of freedom in the marketplace. Aslam argues that neoliberalism is more than a set of policies, ideological principles, or a distinct phase of capitalism--rather it constitutes the ways in which citizens think about their everyday lives. Conceived as common sense, it also governs what is permitted or forbidden in public discourse. Mass movements call attention to the effects of neoliberalism, providing a way to contest its acceptability; in doing so they help to contextualize the impasse that marks a language of civil empowerment and inclusion on one hand, and feelings of powerlessness, diminished agency and impassivity on the other. Looking in particular at Idle No More, Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Sandy, the Egyptian Revolution, and Strike Debt, Aslam takes what may be a more sobering, but still hopeful, view toward the potential of mass movements: to resist the normalization of conceptions of solidarity and citizenship under neoliberalism"--

Written with and for citizens who feel overwhelmed by political and economic forces outside of their control, 'Ordinary Democracy' makes a compelling argument for the adequacy of democratic politics to address the challenges associated with neoliberalism and the growth of emergency politics

Written with and for citizens who feel overwhelmed by political and economic forces outside of their control, Ordinary Democracy makes a compelling argument for the adequacy of democratic politics to address the challenges associated with neoliberalism and the growth of emergency politics. It rejects cynicism about democratic citizenship by focusing on the practices of ongoing movements, bridging the social detachment that has separated academic investigations of democracy and activists in the past in order to add another layer to the public philosophy produced within these movements.