From India to Turkey, from Poland to the United States, authoritarian populists have seized power. Two core components of liberal democracy--individual rights and the popular will--are at war, putting democracy itself at risk. In plain language, Yascha Mounk describes how we got here, where we need to go, and why there is little time left to waste.-- Provided by publisher
The book critiques the modern interpretation of responsibility, which equates it with self-sufficiency and has influenced welfare reforms that impose conditions on entitlements. Yascha Mounk employs political theory and moral philosophy to argue that this shift is harmful and explores how to counter it. The text encourages a reevaluation of luck and choice in welfare debates, highlighting the punitive nature of current policies and advocating for a more compassionate understanding of mutual responsibilities among citizens.
Yascha Mounk explores the rise of the 'identity synthesis,' an ideology prioritizing group identity in social and political life. He examines its origins and growing influence, arguing that this focus, while well-intentioned, hinders true progress toward equality. Mounk advocates for a return to universalism and humanism.
* SELECTED FOR BARACK OBAMA'S SUMMER READING LIST 2022 * 'Anyone interested in the future of liberal democracy should read this book' ANNE APPLEBAUM ---------- One of our most important political thinkers looks to the greatest challenge of our time: how to live together equally and peacefully in diverse democracies. It's easy to be pessimistic about the fate of democracy in multi-ethnic societies. At the end of the Second World War, fewer than one in twenty-five people living in the UK were born abroad; now it is one in seven. The history of humankind is a story of us versus them, and the project of diverse democracies is a relatively new one - it is, in other words, a great experiment. How do identity groups with different ideologies and beliefs live together? Is it possible to embark on a democracy with shared values if our values are at odds? Yascha Mounk argues that group identity is both deeply rooted and malleable. No community is beyond conciliation: groups are moving towards cooperation across the world. The Great Experiment offers a profound understanding of the problem behind all our other problems, and genuine hope for our capacity to solve it.
»Hör auf zu lügen! Jeder weiß, dass es keine Juden mehr gibt.« Mit diesem Kommentar seines Klassenkameraden beginnt für Yascha Mounk die Auseinandersetzung mit seinem Jüdischsein. Er, der als einer von zwei Juden (er und seine Mutter) in dem schwäbischen Nest Laupheim aufgewachsen ist, erlebte das verkrampfte Verhältnis vieler Deutscher zu Juden bereits in jungen Jahren. Ob es antisemitische Reaktionen sind oder das Gegenteil, betontes Wohlwollen – die meisten Deutschen behandeln Juden einfach nicht normal. Yascha Mounk, mittlerweile unterrichtet er Politische Theorie in Harvard, fragt, welches Licht seine Erfahrungen auf das heutige Deutschland werfen können. Denn einige Muster im Umgang mit der Vergangenheit sind weiterhin in der Politik erkennbar – eine Politik, deren Auswirkungen in Zeiten der Krise verhängnisvoller sind denn je.