Just over three decades ago, the world witnessed measurable success in the creation of political cultures and mechanisms that made possible the peaceful dismantling of military dictatorships and oppressive regimes. Yet today, in many of those same parts of the world, people find themselves at another inflection point: democracy is being abandoned — a trend no longer confined to any single region or nation. This forward-looking seminar is organized around a series of historically and theoretically informed conversations exploring the factors that have led to democracy’s unprecedented setbacks and the growing appeal of its regressive alternatives. As we discuss the precariousness of democracy and the processes of its making and unmaking, we will examine the shifting of social imaginaries — those collective interpretive frameworks through which societies make sense of fear, hope, and belonging — to better understand the dynamics of the political and the social today. In our critical explorations of democracy, we will move beyond the modern separation between political and ethical commitments, reaching instead toward the arts and literature for the insights they can offer. While part of the seminar will focus on what went wrong, our concluding discussions will turn to the infrastructure of public hope — exploring ways to sustain the democratic promise and to reimagine the possibilities for a renewal of the political. Readings include works by Pierre Rosanvallon, Cornelius Castoriadis, Paul Ricoeur, Achille Mbembe, Eugene Ionesco, Samuel Beckett, Hannah Arendt, Thomas Mann, Claude Lefort, Leszek Kołakowski, Ernesto Laclau, Philippe C. Schmitter & Terry Karl, Étienne Balibar, Umberto Eco, Judith Butler, and others.

It was just over three decades ago that the world witnessed measurable success in the creation of both a political culture and political mechanisms that made possible a peaceful dismantling of military dictatorships and oppressive regimes. But people today — in various parts of that same world — have found themselves at another inflection point: democracy is being abandoned, a trend that is not confined to any one region or country. This forward-looking seminar is organized around a set of historically and theoretically informed conversations addressing the factors that facilitated the unprecedented setbacks to democracy and the growing appeal of its regressive alternatives. While discussing the precariousness of democracy and the processes of its making and unmaking, we will examine the shifting of social imaginaries — those collective interpretive frameworks — to make sense of the dynamics of social fears and hopes and, ultimately, of the political and the social today. In our critical explorations in democracy, we will depart from the modern separation between political and ethical commitments and reach out to the arts and literature for the profound insights they can provide. While a part of the seminar will focus on what went wrong, in our final considerations on the infrastructure of public hope, we will explore ways to sustain democratic promise and the possibilities for a renewal of the political. The readings include works by Pierre Rosanvallon, Cornelius Castoriadis, Paul Ricoeur, Achille Mbembe, Eugene Ionesco, Samuel Beckett, Hannah Arendt, Thomas Mann, Claude Lefort, Leszek Kolakowski, Ernesto Laclau, Philippe C. Schmitter and Terry Karl, Etienne Balibar, Umberto Eco, Judith Butler, and others. This course is part of the 2025 Democracy & Diversity Summer Graduate Institute to be held in Wroclaw, Poland, July 4th-19th, 2025. They are open to all graduate students and advanced undergraduate students across the New School. Students interested in participating in the Institute MUST submit an application by the deadline. Please find more info on the TCDS website: https://blogs.newschool.edu/tcds/dd-institutes/2025-democracy-diversity-summer-institute/