A
completely revised edition of the classic and widely
consulted 1970 version
First
published as a testament to the legacy of the concept
made popular by the New Left of the 1960s, and with
the perspective of the intervening decades, this book
opens up the way for re-examining just what is
involved in democratizing democracy. With its
emphasis on citizen participation, here, presented in
one volume are the best arguments for participatory
democracy written by some of the most relevant
contributors to the debate, both in an historic, and
in a contemporary, sense.
This
wide-ranging collection probes the historical roots
of participatory democracy in our political culture,
analyzes its application to the problems of modern
society, and explores the possible forms it might
take on every level of society from the work place,
to the community, to the nation at large. Part II,
"The Politics of Participatory Democracy,"
covers Porto Alegre, Montreal, the new Urban ecology,
and direct democracy.
The
book is, by all odds, the most encompassing one
so far in revealing the practical actual
subversions that the New Left wishes to visit
upon us.--Washington Post
It
is good to be reminded of the origins of this
yeasty rebelliousness…and to that end,
editors Dimitrios Roussopoulos and the late
C.George Benello have produced…a volume that
is part inspiration and part reference work for a
generation of earnest social reformers…Our
democracy desparately needs more democracy, and a
reflection upon these essays is a credible place
to start the process. —College Quarterly (See Full Text...)
Apart
from the editors, contributors include: George
Woodcock, Murray Bookchin, Don Calhoun, Stewart
Perry, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, James Gillespie, Gerry
Hunnius, John McEwan, Arthur Chickering, Christian
Bay, Martin Oppenheimer, Colin Ward, Sergio Baierle,
Anne Latendresse, Bartha Rodin, and C.L.R. James.
Table of Contents
Dimitrios Roussopoulos is a political
economist who has written many articles and books on
social and politico-economic issues. He is the author
of many books including The
Public Place and Dissidence: Essays
Against the Mainstream. He continues
to work for local democracy, ecological cities and
world peace.
C.George
Benello (1927-1987) taught sociology at Goddard
College in Vermont until his untimely death, He was
also a Fellow of the Cambridge Institute and author
of From the Ground
Up: Essays on Grassroots and Workplace Democracy.
380
pages, 6x9, bibliography, index
Paperback ISBN: 1-55164-224-7 $24.99
Hardcover ISBN: 1-55164-225-5 $53.99
Cultural Studies /
Political Science & Government
September
2004
For more on
Participatory Democracy see: "The
Deweyan Conception of Participatory Democracy"
by Emil Visnovsky, Professor of Philosophy and Senior
Research Fellow at the Department of Social &
Biological Communication of the Slovak Academy of
Sciences, Bratislava
