Decolonizing Deliberative Democracy: Perspectives from Below

Subhabrata Bobby Banerjee ()
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Subhabrata Bobby Banerjee: City, University of London

Journal of Business Ethics, 2022, vol. 181, issue 2, No 2, 283-299

Abstract: Abstract In this paper I provide a decolonial critique of received knowledge about deliberative democracy. Legacies of colonialism have generally been overlooked in theories of democracy. These omissions challenge several key assumptions of deliberative democracy. I argue that deliberative democracy does not travel well outside Western sites and its key assumptions begin to unravel in the ‘developing’ regions of the world. The context for a decolonial critique of deliberative democracy is the ongoing violent conflicts over resource extraction in the former colonies of Africa, Asia and Latin America. I argue that deliberative democracy cannot take into account the needs of marginalized stakeholders who are defending their lands and livelihoods. The paper contributes to the literature by (1) offering a critique of hegemonic models of democracy that cannot address issues of inequality and colonial difference and (2) offering possibilities to imagine counterhegemonic alternatives for a democratization of democracy from below.

Keywords: Deliberative democracy; Decoloniality; Indigenous struggles; Postcolonialism; Corporate social responsibility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1007/s10551-021-04971-5

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