DEMOCRACY AND MODERNITY - The contribution of Utopia
(Democrazia e modernità - L’apporto dell’utopia)
Giuseppe Schiavone

RIGHTS AVAILABLE

The publication

The birth of democracy is linked to Utopian thought as us developed in Europe at the beginning of the Sixteenth Century. Utopia, in fact, contrary to the meaning common speech has attributed it, is not a perfect, but unattainable project, but a concrete proposal for the construction of a just society. The Utopian project is a testimony of civil courage and the hope for a better future, and leads people step by step along the road to emancipation.
Based on these premises, Democrazia e modernità takes up the threads upon which democracy was built, from the English Revolution (1640-1660) via the American and French Revolutions and the debates on the nature of the State, the sovereignty of the people, and the roles of religion and women.
Giuseppe Schiavone highlights the extraordinary historical power of documents such as the Putney Debates or the People’s Pact, and the prophetic importance of people such as Gerrard Winstanley. The author’s analysis restores to democracy its meaning as a "concrete utopia", a "project" aimed at building a fairer society. This volume represents a useful intellectual instrument against the repeated use of ideology and prejudice in interpreting political history in the modern age.

The author

Giuseppe Schiavone is professor of the History of political doctrine at the University of Lecce. His other works include: Winstanley. Il profeta della Rivoluzione inglese (1991), and the direction of La democrazia diretta. Un progetto politico per la società di giustizia (1997).

Site developed by Luca Zanini + Xperimedia

go to the top