The Inner Enemies of Democracy

Tzvetan Todorov 지음

Polity 2014년 11월 12일 출간

작품소개

책소개

The political history of the twentieth century can be viewed as the history of democracy's struggle against its external enemies: fascism and communism. This struggle ended with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet regime. Some people think that democracy now faces new enemies: Islamic fundamentalism, religious extremism and international terrorismand that this is the struggle that will define our times. Todorov disagrees: the biggest threat to democracy today is democracy itself. Its enemies are within: what the ancient Greeks called 'hubris'.Todorov argues that certain democratic values have been distorted and pushed to an extreme that serves the interests of dominant states and powerful individuals. In the name of lsquo;democracy' and lsquo;human rights', the United States and some European countries have embarked on a crusade to enlighten some foreign populations through the use of force. Yet this mission to lsquo;help' others has led to Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo, to large-scale destruction and loss of life and to a moral crisis of growing proportions. The defence of freedom, if unlimited, can lead to the tyranny of individuals.Drawing on recent history as well as his own experience of growing up in a totalitarian regime, Todorov returns to examples borrowed from the Western canon: from a dispute between Augustine and Pelagius to the fierce debates among Enlightenment thinkersto explore the origin of these perversions of democracy. He argues compellingly that the real democratic ideal is to be found in the delicate, ever-changing balance between competing principles, popular sovereignty, freedom and progress. When one of these elements breaks free and turns into an over-riding principle, it becomes dangerous: populism, ultra-liberalism and messianism, the inner enemies of democracy.

목차

CHAPTER 1. Democracy and its DiscontentsThe paradoxes of freedomExternal and internal enemiesDemocracy threatened by its own hubrisCHAPTER 2. An Ancient ControversyThe main charactersPelagius: will and perfectionAugustine: the unconscious and original sinThe outcome of the debateCHAPTER 3. Political MessianismThe revolutionary momentThe first wave: revolutionary and colonial warsThe second wave: the Communist projectThe third wave: imposing democracy by bombsThe Iraq warThe internal damage: tortureThe war in AfghanistanThe temptations of pride and powerThe war in Libya: the decisionThe war in Libya: the implementationIdealists and realistsPolitics in the face of morality and justiceCHAPTER 4. The Tyranny of IndividualsProtecting individualsExplaining human behaviourCommunism and neoliberalismThe fundamentalist temptationNeoliberalism&'s blind spotsFreedom and attachmentCHAPTER 5. The Effects of IndividualismBlame it on science?The law retreatsLoss of meaningManagement techniquesThe power of the mediaFreedom of public speechThe limits of freedomCHAPTER 6. Populism and XenophobiaThe rise of populismPopulist discourseNational identityDown with multiculturalism: the German caseBritain and FranceThe debate about headscarvesOne debate can hide anotherRelations with foreignersLiving together betterCHAPTER 7. The Future of DemocracyDemocracy, dream and realityThe enemy within usTowards renewal?NOTES

출판사 서평

One of the great intellectuals of our time. Stanley Hoffmann, Harvard UniversityThis is a voice to be listened to attentively, for our shared planetary home's and all its residents' sake.Zygmunt Bauman, University of LeedsNow, of all times, there is a need for cool heads, such as Todorov, who approaches the limits of free speech with admirable dexterity.The New York Review of BooksA coherent, relevant work in which intelligence and sincere humanism do battle Ð a world away from the slippery moralizing of intellectual fence-sitters.Le Nouvel ObservateurTodorov&'s work is that of a sage, a man who has read the great texts, who has lived through two political regimes, and who dares to express an idea that may seem at odds with his fervent defence of freedom and democracy: freedom for its own sake, freedom that forgets its duties and responsibilities, is self-destructive. What he writes is never ordinary, but always tolerant and life affirming.L&'Echo

작가정보

저자(글) Tzvetan Todorov