9 783030 185633 ISBN 978-3-030-18563-3 ‘In times of defiant populism, a refreshing, thought-provoking invitation to reorient attention from peoples to publics comes from Frega’s lucid reconstruction of the elective affinity of democracy and pragmatism. Frega’s wide view of democracy is an authentic must-read for democrats and pragmatists alike.’ — Alessandro Ferrara, Professor of Political Philosophy, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy ‘”The cure for the ills of Democracy,” wrote Jane Addams, “is more Democracy.” Roberto Frega amends Addams to say that the cure is a “wide view of democracy”— one that encompasses our habits, social interactions, and forms of organization. Through a systematic philosophical, sociological and political analysis, Frega reveals how an inclusive group life and experimentalist institutions can revive our flagging democratic fortunes.’ — Christopher Ansell, Professor of Political Science, University of California, Berkeley, USA ”This remarkable book tells us, convincingly, that taking for granted democracy does not work in the service of democracy, a complex form of social, political and moral life. With admirable finesse, Roberto Frega is capable of translating this transformative vision into an idea that American pragmatists intuited some decades ago already: that democracy has not only an history but is a way of making history.” — Nadia Urbinati, Professor of Politiacl Philosophy, Columbia University, NY, USA The aim of this book is to provide a fresh, wider, and more compelling account of democracy than the one we usually find in conventional contemporary political theory. Frega delivers an account more in tune with our everyday experience and ordinary intuitions, bringing back into political theory the notion that democracy denotes first and foremost a form of society, and only secondarily a specific political regime. Claiming that such a view of democracy is capable of replacing the mainstream categories of justice, freedom and non-domination in their hegemonic function of all-encompassing political concepts, Frega then argues for democracy as the broader normative framework within which to rethink the forms of associated living in all spheres of personal, social, economic, and political life. Roberto Frega (PhD) is a senior researcher in Philosophy at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in Paris, France. Pragmatism and the Wide View of Democracy Roberto Frega Pragmatism and the Wide View of Democracy Roberto Frega