Beyond East and West: Reorienting Political Theory through the Prism of Modernity

Amine, Loubna El

doi:10.1017/s1537592715003254

Cited by 37 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…The evils of unconstrained authoritarian rule—or, more classically, tyranny— have long been obvious to all serious observers. As the power of modern centralized states has continued to expand, moreover, effective constraints have only become more important (El Amine 2016). Even if unconstrained rulers are initially benevolent, the political institutions they create can be used by less benevolent successors (or usurpers) in tremendously harmful ways.…”

Section: Beyond the Epistemic Frame: Defending The Power Of The Multimentioning

confidence: 99%

The Power of the Multitude: Answering Epistemic Challenges to Democracy

Bagg

2018

Am Polit Sci Rev

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Recent years have witnessed growing controversy over the “wisdom of the multitude.” As epistemic critics drawing on vast empirical evidence have cast doubt on the political competence of ordinary citizens, epistemic democrats have offered a defense of democracy grounded largely in analogies and formal results. So far, I argue, the critics have been more convincing. Nevertheless, democracy can be defended on instrumental grounds, and this article demonstrates an alternative approach. Instead of implausibly upholding the epistemic reliability of average voters, I observe that competitive elections, universal suffrage, and discretionary state power disable certain potent mechanisms of elite entrenchment. By reserving particular forms of power for the multitude of ordinary citizens, they make democratic states more resistant to dangerous forms of capture than non-democratic alternatives. My approach thus offers a robust defense of electoral democracy, yet cautions against expecting too much from it—motivating a thicker conception of democracy, writ large.

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Section: Beyond the Epistemic Frame: Defending The Power Of The Multimentioning

confidence: 99%

The Power of the Multitude: Answering Epistemic Challenges to Democracy

Bagg

2018

Am Polit Sci Rev

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“…Third, the study of Indian secularism sheds new light on some blind spots in Western conceptions of secularism, notably concerning the lingering influence of First Amendment separationism on Western liberal conceptions both of religion and of sovereignty. This article, therefore, feeds into a broader set of reflections about the "normative dialogue" that comparative political theory can foster, and how it can do so (Amine 2016;Dallmayr 2004;Jenco 2007;March 2009;Parel 1992;Vacano 2015).…”

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confidence: 99%

Minimal Secularism: Lessons for, and from, India

Laborde

2020

Am Polit Sci Rev

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Does liberal democracy require a strict separation between state and religion? In Anglophone liberal political theory, the separationist model of the First Amendment of the US Constitution has provided the basic template for the rightful relationship between state and religion. Yet this model is ill-suited to the evaluation of the secular achievements of most states, including India. This article sets out a new framework, minimal secularism, as a transnational framework of normative comparison. Minimal secularism does not single out religion as special, and it appeals to abstract liberal democratic ideals such as equal inclusion and personal liberty. Actual debates about secularism in India are shown to revolve around these ideals. The study of recent Indian controversies—about the Uniform Civil Code, the status of Muslims, and the rise of BJP nationalism—also sheds light on some blind spots of Western secularism and the conception of sovereignty and religion it relies on.

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“…14 Loubna El Amine (2016) has made the case, in fact, that within comparative political theory today the very East-West binary may be transcended given the shared experience of modernity, a part of which is precisely the universal acceptance of the legitimacy of the modern state.…”

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confidence: 99%

Pierre Clastres as comparative political theorist: The democratic potential of the new political anthropology

Holman

2017

European Journal of Political Theory

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This article examines the political anthropological work of Pierre Clastres in light of the emergence of the subfield of comparative political theory. In particular, it argues that Clastres’ reconstruction of the political philosophy of various Amazonian societies offers an alternative model for the engagement with texts and traditions external to the history of so-called Western societies. Rejecting all impulses toward totalization – as represented, for example, in the assertion of a dialogical potential for establishing modes of intercultural exchange aimed at achieving mutual understanding – Clastres calls attention to the radical social-historical alterity of forms of society. Appreciation of this alterity not only enlarges the scope of comparative political thought to engage inherited traditions that resist assimilation into Western conversations, but also reveals an indeterminate democratic potential grounded in political creativity.

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Beyond East and West: Reorienting Political Theory through the Prism of Modernity

Cited by 37 publications

References 60 publications

The Power of the Multitude: Answering Epistemic Challenges to Democracy

The Power of the Multitude: Answering Epistemic Challenges to Democracy

Minimal Secularism: Lessons for, and from, India

Pierre Clastres as comparative political theorist: The democratic potential of the new political anthropology

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