Democracy and the Limits of Community

This book examines appeals to “community” and “the common” in political thought and philosophy on both sides of the Atlantic.

Tracing appeals to “community” and “the common” in contemporary political thought and philosophy on both sides of the Atlantic, this book argues that these concepts lead to a dangerous political romanticism and authoritarian drift that is incompatible with the normative demands and emancipatory dimension of liberal constitutional democracy.At a historical moment when democracy experiences a legitimation crisis, demands for 'community' and for a 'democracy of the common' have become central themes in political theory and philosophy on both sides of the Atlantic. Such appeals entail a critique, even a rejection, of liberal constitutional democracy as alienating and inauthentic, as not representing the interests of citizens. This book fundamentally questions the democratic potential of appeals to 'community' and 'the common.' The language of 'community' can be observed especially among conservative and neofascist public intellectuals of the New Right, but it also features surprisingly prominently among post-Marxist philosophers and political theorists of the New Left. Tracing 'community' and 'the common' in contemporary political thought and philosophy, this book argues that they represent a dangerous political romanticism and authoritarian drift incompatible with the normative demands and the emancipatory dimension of liberal constitutional democracy.