A review by torvosaur
Democracy May Not Exist, But We'll Miss It When It's Gone, by Astra Taylor
4.0
A dense read - don't think of this as a book offering concrete solutions, but as a set of meditations on democracy. The author provides an inquiry into democracy as a balance of paradoxes, an exploration of opposites. She uses fundamental contradictions in democracy (present/future, spontaneity/structure to point to why democracy and self-rule is something always on the horizon, always to be grasped but never fully realized.
The flow of the book is a little disorganized, hence I had trouble paying attention to the larger points being made. It could have used a bit more editing. However, it teases out the tensions remarkably well, and while taking a socialist perspective, is still realistic about the drawbacks.
The flow of the book is a little disorganized, hence I had trouble paying attention to the larger points being made. It could have used a bit more editing. However, it teases out the tensions remarkably well, and while taking a socialist perspective, is still realistic about the drawbacks.