BW-C/Sb3: The Democratic Citizen in Modern Society

Seminar for Bildungswissenschaften

What does it mean to be a citizen in a modern democratic society? In this seminar, we will examine a variety of questions about modern democratic life from a political theory perspective, including: What is the significance of freedom? How do we understand specifically modern forms of power and domination? How does mass media affect democratic discussion and debate? How do we make sense of cultural diversity? How do the pressures of 21st-century capitalism influence democratic life? Readings may be drawn from Jean-Jacques Rousseau, John Stuart Mill, Carl Schmitt, Hannah Arendt, Martin Luther King, Seyla Benhabib, Nancy Fraser, and others.