Rethinking Popular Representation

by Törnquist, Olle; Webster, Neil; Stokke, Kristian

• ISBN13: 9781137006929
• ISBN10: 1137006927
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-09-04
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

Rethinking Popular Representationstarts out from the deep concern with contemporary tendencies towards depoliticization of public issues and popular interests. It is argued that the root cause of this is flawed representation, due to both elitist institution building and fragmented citizen participation. Hence the book makes a case for the need to rethink more democratic popular representation. Towards this end, the book outlines an overarching analytical framework for popular representation, examines key theoretical issues and empirical experiences of popular representation, and provides a policy-oriented conclusion.

Author Biography

Kristian Stokke is Professor in Human Geography at the University of Oslo, specialising in movement politics and democratisation in South Africa and conflict dynamics and transformation in Sri Lanka. His recent publications include the anthologies Democratising Development: The Politics of Socio-Economic Rights in South Africa (with Jones), Politicising Democracy: The New Local Politics of Democratisation (with Harriss and Törnquist), and the articles "Maximum Working Class Unity? Challenges to Local Social Movement Unionism in Cape Town" in Antipode (with Lier), "Fisheries under Fire: Impacts of War and Challenges of Reconstruction and Development in Jaffna Fisheries, Sri Lanka" in Norwegian Journal of Geography (with Soosai), and "Participatory Development and Empowerment: The Dangers of Localism" in Third World Quarterly (with Mohan).

Olle Törnquist is Professor of Political Science and Development Research at the University of Oslo and co-director of Demos, the Indonesian Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies. He has published extensively on politics and development, radical politics and problems of democratisation in comparative perspective. His recent books include Politics and Development: A Critical Introduction, Popular Development and Democracy: Case Studies in the Philippines, Indonesia and Kerala, Indonesia’s Post-Soeharto Democracy Movement (with Prasetyo and Priyono) and Making Democracy Meaningful: Problems and Options in Indonesia (with Priyono and Samadhi) and the anthology Politicising Democracy: The New Local Politics of Democratisation (with Harriss and Stokke).

Neil Webster (PhD) is Senior Research Fellow and Head of the Politics and Governance Research Unit at the Danish Institute for International Studies, Copenhagen. He has researched extensively on the politics of local governance, civil society, and poverty reduction, primarily in South Asia and works as a policy adviser for Danida, UNDP, UNCDF amongst others. Among recent publications are In the Name of the Poor: Contesting Political Space for Poverty Reduction (co-edited with Engberg-Pedersen) and ‘Understanding the evolving diversities and originalities in rural social movements in West Bengal' in K. Ghimire’s Civil Society and the Market Question.

Table of Contents

"This innovative, insightfulexploration of democratic political representation helps clarify why democracy has stagnated in many parts of the developing world and what can be done to revitalize it.The editors have assembled a top-notch cross-regional group of experts andorganized the work around a lucid analytic framework of utility to aid practitioners, civic activists,and scholars." - Thomas Carothers, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

"Despite waves of democratic upsurge, why does popular representation need re-thinking? Because states are commodified and captured, stripped of democratic politics, and because representation is fractured and ‘un-popular.’ This book examines how democratic representation can be scaled up. It is a uniquely valuable addition to our understanding of democratic governance." - Barbara Harriss-White, Professor, Department of International Development, Oxford University

"A deeply engaged, engaging, and diverse volume for all of us interested in reducing the democratic deficit in poor countries." - Mick Moore, Professor, Institute of Development Studies

"This is a very significant and high-quality contribution to some pressing debates around the politics of development and democratization in the post-colonial world. These include the important challenges involved in securing not only the inclusion but also the influence of marginal and poor peoples in key decision-making processes that shape their lives, and of the deeper processes of state and citizenship formation that shape these possibilities." - Samuel Hickey, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Development Policy and Management, University of Manchester