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Adventures in Democracy

The Turbulent World of People Power

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Adventures in Democracy

Written by: Erica Benner
Narrated by: Louise Brealey
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

In a hyper-competitive world obsessed with rankings, super-wealth and greatness, how can we live up to democratic ideals of equality?

Erica Benner has spent a lifetime thinking about these questions from different angles in different countries - from post-war Japan, where democracy was imposed on a defeated country, to post-communist Poland, with sudden gaps of wealth and security, and the US and South Africa with their legacies of slavery and racism.

Adventures in Democracy draws on her experiences and the deep history of democracies - in ancient Rome and Athens, the American and French revolutions and Renaissance Florence - to offer an unflinching portrait of modern democracy. To salvage democratic institutions and ideals, Benner argues, we need to pay more attention to inequalities and struggles for power among citizens. Probing myths of heroic triumph over tyranny and inexorable progress towards equality, she reveals the vulnerabilities of people power, inviting us to consider why democracy is worth fighting for and the role each citizen must play.

©2024 Erica Benner (P)2024 Penguin Audio Democracy History & Theory Ideologies & Doctrines Philosophy Political Science Politics & Government World

Critic Reviews

An invigorating reflection on the tensions in liberal democracy. Benner weaves together personal reflections on life in Japan and Eastern Europe with a nuanced account of ancient philosophies that are all too often caricatured. Essential reading for anyone tempted to be complacent about the survival of democracy in the twenty-first century (Professor Catherine Fletcher)
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This book by Erica Benner is an exploration into the concept of democracy. Democracy is a wooly concept, which few people understand, even though defend it with our lives.
I like the way she interspersed personal anecdotes with the concepts she explained.
Louise Brealey's reading and voice are excellent.
I've bought the hard copy of the book after listening to it!

An Excellent Exploration

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