Tocqueville and the Frontiers of Democracy

This collection of essays uses Alexis de Tocqueville's writings to explore the dilemmas of democratization in the twenty-first century.

Ewa Atanassow (Edited by), Richard Boyd (Edited by)

9780521263757, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 29 March 2013

388 pages, 7 b/w illus.
22.7 x 15.2 x 2 cm, 0.51 kg

'Under the tutelage of two outstanding guides, a talented array of scholars offers astute, novel, and penetrating considerations of a global Tocqueville. Wide-ranging in space and time, this uncommonly thoughtful collection deepens our understanding of democracy - just as Tocqueville would have wished - both as a political regime and as an egalitarian social form.' Ira Katznelson, Columbia University

Alexis de Tocqueville is widely cited as an authority on civil society, religion and American political culture, yet his thoughts on democratization outside the West and the challenges of a globalizing age are less known and often misunderstood. This collection of essays by a distinguished group of international scholars explores Tocqueville's vision of democracy in Asia and the Middle East; the relationship between globalization and democracy; colonialism, Islam and Hinduism; and the ethics of international relations. Rather than simply documenting Tocqueville's own thoughts, the volume applies the Frenchman's insights to enduring dilemmas of democratization and cross-cultural exchanges in the twenty-first century. This is one of the few books to shift the focus of Tocqueville studies away from America and Western Europe, expanding the frontiers of democracy and highlighting the international dimensions of Tocqueville's political thought.

Acknowledgments
Short title key to works cited
Introduction: Tocqueville and the frontiers of democracy Ewa Atanassow and Richard Boyd
Part I. The Meaning of Democracy and the Democratic Revolution: 1. Democracy and revolution in Tocqueville: the frontiers of democracy Nestor Capdevila
2. The frontier between democracy and aristocracy Ran Halevi
3. Tocqueville's Burke, or story as history Ralph Lerner
Part II. Democratization in a Non-Western Context: 4. Tocqueville and religion: beyond the frontier of Christendom Alan Kahan
5. Deliberating democratization with Tocqueville: the case of East Asia Cheryl Welch
6. Tocquevillean thoughts on higher education in the Middle East Joshua Mitchell
Part III. Challenges of Globalization: Democracy, Markets, and Nationhood: 7. Tocqueville and the unsettled global village Susan McWilliams
8. Nationhood: democracy's frontier? Ewa Atanassow
9. Commerce, glory, and empire: Montesquieu's legacy Celine Spector
Part IV. Democracy, Imperialism, and Foreign Policy: 10. The surprising M. Tocqueville: necessity, foreign policy, and civic virtue David Clinton
11. Democracy and domination: empire, slavery, and democratic corruption in Tocqueville's thought Jennifer Pitts
12. Tocqueville and the Napoleonic legend Richard Boyd
Part V. Democracy's Old and New Frontiers: 13. Tocqueville, the problem of equality, and John Ford's Stagecoach Robert Pippin
14. The poetry of democracy Paul Berman
15. Tocqueville and the local frontiers of democracy Robert T. Gannett, Jr
Epilogue: new frontiers, old dilemmas Richard Boyd
List of contributors
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Political science & theory [JPA]