Politics, power, and resistance — Ian Shapiro

In Pursuit of Development

A central theme in Ian Shapiro's extensive body of research is the concept of domination, which captures the reactive nature of human beings towards power structures. Unlike traditional political theories that imagine societies designing just orders from scratch, Ian argues that political institutions evolve in response to the rejection of unacceptable power dynamics. This reactive nature is evident in the historical shifts from feudalism to absolutism, and eventually to democracy, driven by people's resistance to absolute power.

Ian Shapiro is Sterling Professor of Political Science and Global Affairs at Yale University. In his latest book Uncommon Sense, he explores why citizens in many democracies are profoundly alienated and some democracies are in danger of failing.

Key highlights

• Introduction – 00:24
• The fight against domination – 02:50
• The role of political parties in resisting domination – 05:41
• Disillusionment with democracies and the role of deliberation – 11:24
• Amartya Sen and development as freedom – 23:16
• Betting on hope – 34:29

Host

Dan Banik (@danbanik @GlobalDevPod)

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