Abstract

Despite the crisis of 'real' democratic institutions is increasingly evident , the democratic idea continues to be almost universally regarded as the only possible guarantee of the legitimacy of political systems . This apparent paradox showsthat, as already recognized by Hans Kelsen , the worse risks for democracy come from its ideological success . The almost unanimous ideologicalconsensus that surrounds it, threatens to turn democracy into a label devoided of any historical depth and of any political urgency. Questioning the modern concept of democracy against the backdrop of institutional transformations that have accompanied its development , the proposed discussion of Dino Costantini's book "La democrazia dei moderni: Storia di una crisi" would help thedeconstruction of the aura of necessity of which 'real' democracies love to surround themselves today . Recalling how the shape assumed by democratic institutions has always been the historical result of a heated political debate, it will invite to rethink the forms of democratic representation beyond any naive and pseudo - naturalistic understanding: it would thus help to reactivate the process of invention in which a democracy not reduced to a fetish of itself should consist of.

Programme

The discussion, which will be moderated by Giovanni Allegretti, will consist in three parts:
1) The first part will host two critical interventions on the book in question, done by Antoni Aguilò and Cristiano Gianolla.
2) In a second part there will be space for the answer of the author, Dino Costantini.
3) The third part will be dedicated to an open discussion with the public.

Bio

Presently Invited Researcher at CES, Dino Costantini is PhD. in Political Philosophy and in Political Science. After graduating in Philosophy in Venice, he studied in Pisa, Paris and Trento. From 2007 to 2013 he has been Lecturer of Sociological Theories at Ca' Foscari University in Venice (I), where he is also Research Fellow of Philosophy Department. His research interests include French colonial and postcolonial thought, the question of citizenship between colonialism and immigration, the crisis of democracy. Between his recent works: La democrazia dei moderni: storia di una crisi, Firenze University Press, Firenze 2012; Multiculturalismo alla francese? Dalla colonizzazione all'immigrazione, Firenze University Press, Firenze 2009; Mission civilisatrice. Le rôle de l'histoire coloniale dans la construction de l'identité politique française, La Découverte, Paris 2008.

Activity within the Observatório da Participação, da Inovação e dos Poderes Locais (PEOPLES)