Citizenship and Identity: Towards a New Republic

Citizenship and Identityoffers an analysis of contemporary politics and of the skepticism and apathy that characterize the political life of modern democracies. Starting from an exploration of liberal-democracy and a critique of the fragmentation of contemporary politics, this book develops a republican perspective as an alternative framework for political institutions and civic participation. Schwarzmantel applies ideas of republicanism to practical politics and to the realities of political life in a complex society. The book takes the debate on democratic reform forward by describing a new form of democratic society, focusing on ideas of citizenship, plural identities and decentralization. It confronts the question of agency and the possibility of radical democracy in the conditions of liberal-democracy today.