PREFIGURING DEMOCRATIC FUTURES. CULTURAL AND THEORETICAL RESPONSES TO THE CRISIS OF POLITICAL IMAGINATION

Introduction

Democracy is in a crisis of global scale. This crisis has variously been attributed to a loss of belief in political representation, the rising of technocratic post-democracy, or an authoritarian and populist turn. However, a narrow focus on the political system is inadequate.

The Crisis of Political Imagination

PREDEF starts from the assumption that the crisis of democracy is also a crisis of political imagination. As the infamous TINA-principle (There is no Alternative) illustrates, it has become increasingly difficult to imagine genuine democratic alternatives to the status quo.

Exploring Alternatives

PREDEF sets out to explore potentials for deepening and pluralizing democracy beyond the sphere of politics narrowly defined as the body of existing political institutions. The project will turn to the fields of culture, art, and intellectual history, for these fields hold hitherto untapped potentials for extending our democratic imaginary and disclosing political alternatives.

Research Approach

Located at the intersection between cultural research and democratic theory, PREDEF meets this challenge empirically and theoretically.

Empirical Investigation

Empirically, artistic and cultural counter-practices are investigated that champion democratization in:

1. The time-based arts (through theatrical occupations)
2. International relations (through counter-summits)
3. Law (through mock tribunals)

Theoretical Framework

Theoretically, the project seeks to widen our democratic imaginary by:

• Searching the history of ideas for forgotten institutions that hold untapped democratic potentials
• Elaborating a democratic theory of counter-institutions

Main Objectives

The main objectives are: i. Regaining a sense of possibility in a time of vanishing democratic alternatives
ii. Exploring the democratizing potential of cultural and artistic practices and institutions
iii. Learning from alternative configurations of the past and beyond the Western context, specifically regarding institutional designs
iv. Connecting theoretical and empirical research with the aim of genuine cross-fertilization