(with Dilip Gaonkar and Charles Taylor), (2022) Harvard University Press.

From the publisher -  Three leading thinkers analyze the erosion of democracy’s social foundations and call for a movement to reduce inequality, strengthen inclusive solidarity, empower citizens, and reclaim pursuit of the public good.

Democracy is in trouble. Populism is a common scapegoat but not the root cause. More basic are social and economic transformations eroding the foundations of democracy, ruling elites trying to lock in their own privilege, and cultural perversions like making individualistic freedom the enemy of democracy’s other crucial ideals of equality and solidarity. In Degenerations of Democracy three of our most prominent intellectuals investigate democracy gone awry, locate our points of fracture, and suggest paths to democratic renewal. (more)

Reviews

Special Issue Global Perspectives

Crawford, B. “Democracy for the Few.” Global Perspectives 4, no. 1 (2023): 70346. https://doi.org/10.1525/gp.2023.70346.

Hechter, M. “Review of Degenerations of Democracy.” Global Perspectives 4, no. 1 (2023). University of California Press. https://doi.org/10.1525/gp.2023.72771.

Zielonka, J. “Degenerations of Democracy.” Global Perspectives 4, no. 1 (2023): 70092. https://doi.org/10.1525/gp.2023.70092.

Zipperstein, S. E. “Technology and Democracy.” Global Perspectives 4, no. 1 (2023): 68114. https://doi.org/10.1525/gp.2023.68114.

Special Issue The Tocqueville Review

Cozzaglio, Ilaria. "Perceiving Democracy." The Tocqueville Review/La revue Tocqueville 45, no. 2 (2024): 186-192. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/947961.

Harsin, Jayson. "The Deep Media and Communication Structure of Degenerations (and Renewals)." The Tocqueville Review/La revue Tocqueville 45, no. 2 (2024): 193-203. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/947962.

Sawyer, Stephen W. "Doubling Democracy." The Tocqueville Review/La revue Tocqueville 45, no. 2 (2024): 204-211. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/947963.

Calhoun, Craig, and Charles Taylor. "Can Empowered Citizens Save Democracy?" The Tocqueville Review/La revue Tocqueville 45, no. 2 (2024): 212-219. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/947964.

Additional Selected Book Reviews

Kloppenberg, J.T. (2023. Is American Democracy Coming Apart? Redeeming the promise of self-rule. Commonweal Magazine. 

Fong, B. Y. (2022). The Material and the Participatory in the Green New Deal: Two Questions about the Vision of Democratic Renewal in Degenerations of Democracy. In Critical Sociology 49(2), 327–329). SAGE Publications. https://doi.org/10.1177/08969205221134299

(2012) Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

“This collection of Craig Calhoun's essays brings us back to essentials: what do we mean by the terms “class” and “radicalism,” and how do these concepts help us to understand the social movements and conflicts of early industrial society? … Among his other accomplishments, Calhoun illustrates how difficult it is to draw a line between the “traditional” protests of the early nineteenth century and the “modern” class protests envisioned by most social historians.” — James R. Barrett, American Historical Review.