In introducing Astra Taylor, Meg Backus said, we call libraries the last bastion of democracy, but what does that mean?
During her keynote, Taylor talked about democracy, read passages from her book, and showed us a clip from her documentary. What follows are the thoughts and ideas I picked up from her talk.
During her keynote, Taylor talked about democracy, read passages from her book, and showed us a clip from her documentary. What follows are the thoughts and ideas I picked up from her talk.
Who
rules in a democracy? The people rule, but what is “the people”? How
do we describe this abstraction? Democracy focuses us to ask “how are we
going to live together”? Can we all engage philosophically with that
question ?
Socrates warned that democracy would
devolve into tyranny with a demagogue. Aristotle said that democracy is
rule of the poor. Democracy assumes economic equality.
The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy) has an impact on the U.S. democracy. As Taylor
read passages about the Great Law of Peace, it was easy to hear how our U.S. democracy was founded upon it. (You can read the Great Law of Peace on ganienkeh.net and fordham.edu.) Yet we have moved away from it in ways that have harmed our democracy.
In a democracy, the people hold the power. She noted that democracy is aspirational and a messy practice. In a democracy, there should be mass opinion rather that expertise. In other words, democracy should be based on a few people who have the "right" knowledge. That is counter to the idea that the people hold the power. Distrusting experts leads to looking for a strong leader. A strong leader means that power is concentrated, rather than being held by the people.
In a democracy, the people hold the power. She noted that democracy is aspirational and a messy practice. In a democracy, there should be mass opinion rather that expertise. In other words, democracy should be based on a few people who have the "right" knowledge. That is counter to the idea that the people hold the power. Distrusting experts leads to looking for a strong leader. A strong leader means that power is concentrated, rather than being held by the people.
Meritocracy
is where experts rule. This idea was born over 50 years ago. It was
meant to be a joke, but has become true. We live in a society where the
experts know best. Who are the experts on democracy? People have always fought for their right to learn. What would like education look like in an inclusive, democratic system?
She noted that elections are aristocratic, while selection is democratic.
Astra
Taylor encourages people to recognize and use the power that they have.
Organize with people who are in the same circumstance as you.
Quick Thoughts
This is a topic we - especially in the U.S. - need to be thinking about. It is not an easy topic to tackle, because democracy is an ideal that can be implemented in many ways. What is important about it is that the people - not the philosopher king or the top expert or the richest people - rule. Astra Taylor's work can indeed help us delve into this and I'm glad that she spoke at NYLA.If this topic interests you, consider starting with the RN Future Tense podcast below (a transcript is available) as an introduction. I also found Ezra Klein's interview to be informative and easy to listen to as I walk.
Astra Taylor's relevant works
- Democracy May Not Exist, but We'll Miss It When It's Gone (book 2019)
- What is Democracy? (documentary 2019)
- The People's Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age (book 2015)
Related podcasts
- What future democracy? from RN Future Tense (29 minutes) (2017)
- Astra Taylor will change how you think about democracy from the Ezra Klein show (82 minutes) (2019)
Other
- Democracy from Encyclopedia Britannica
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