DEMOCRACY & AUTHORITARIANISM
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Culture of Democracy and Authoritarianism
This course explores democracy and authoritarianism not merely as types of government, but as cultures, comprising beliefs, practices, habits, and social relationships that shape how power is exercised and experienced in daily life. Often, democracy is seen only through elections, constitutions, or formal structures. Although essential, these are insufficient on their own. Democratic governance also depends heavily on cultural norms like tolerance, trust, accountability, civic participation, and respect for diversity. Without these underlying values, democratic institutions might appear functional yet lack substantive content.Similarly, authoritarianism should not be viewed solely as the result of a single ruler, party, or external force. Instead, it is maintained and sometimes reinforced by societal attitudes, cultural narratives, and daily practices that normalise hierarchy, obedience, exclusion, and the concentration of power. Factors such as fear, polarisation, misinformation, economic instability, and social inequality all foster environments where authoritarian tendencies can develop and grow. Therefore, authoritarianism is not merely an external influence on society but a condition that arises from within.The course examines how democratic and authoritarian cultures are formed, sustained, and challenged through education, media, religion, nationalism, family structures, economic systems, and digital technologies. It raises crucial questions: What motivates citizens to accept or oppose the abuse of power? How do ordinary individuals participate, either actively or passively, in democratic decline or renewal? Why do certain societies uphold democratic norms over time while others drift toward authoritarianism, even when democratic institutions are in place?
Beyond Liberalism: Political Theory, Democracy, and Economic Thought from the Global South
This course explores political theory beyond its conventional Euro-American canon by engaging with diverse frameworks developed in the Global South. It examines how thinkers, movements, and communities across Africa, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East have conceptualised power, democracy, justice, and economic life in response to colonialism, postcolonial state formation, inequality, and global capitalism.Rather than treating liberal democracy and market capitalism as universal or inevitable models, the course critically explores alternative democratic practices, including participatory, communal, deliberative, and Indigenous forms of governance. It examines new economic ideas that challenge growth-focused, extractive, and neoliberal paradigms. These include solidarity economies, post-development theory, feminist and ecological economics, and decolonial approaches to political economy.The course emphasises theory in dialogue with practice. Students will analyse political ideas as they emerge from social struggles, institutional experiments, and everyday forms of collective life. By highlighting perspectives from the Global South, the course invites students to reconsider dominant assumptions about democracy, development, and modernity, and to explore how alternative political and economic imaginaries can contribute to more just and sustainable futures.
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