Creating Democracy

Creating Democracy brings into dialogue for the first time two important theorists of democracy: Hannah Arendt (1906–75) and Mikhail Bakhtin (1895–975). Their shared conception of democracy stemming from their encounters with totalitarian governments – Nazi Germany for Arendt and Stalinist Russia for Bakhtin – and the rise of authoritarian populism in both Europe and America make their ideas more relevant than ever. Charles Hersch contends that Arendt and Bakhtin have a unique vision of democrac