Democracy
& Nature, Vol. 9, No. 3
Inclusive democracy and its
prospects
David Freeman
Abstract:
Takis Fotopoulos’ inclusive democracy project has generated one
of the most interesting and ambitious undertakings within contemporary political
philosophy. Fotopoulos synthesises what he regards as the principal
contributions of five discrete traditions, retrieves classical Athens as
democratic exemplar, thinks through and extrapolates the implications of his
vision for daily life, and seeks to anticipate and resolve conundrums likely to
follow. Any one of these dimensions would render his project noteworthy.
Nonetheless, his project occurs within a historic moment that limits its
prospects of consideration beyond its own political constituency. However
unfairly, Fotopoulos’ proposals will struggle for mass attention for reasons not
principally of his creation. A leading reason for this is the widespread and
probably reasonable leeriness toward large-scale alternatives borne of the
pathological nature of much twentieth century political radicalism.
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