Reconstructing Democracy, Recontextualizing Dewey: Pragmatism and Interactive Constructivism in the Twenty-first Century

Focusing on issues of diversity, difference, and inclusion, leading scholars explore John Dewey’s pluralistic, deliberative, and communicative theory of democracy. They discuss the tensions between Dewey’s two criteria for a democratic society found in Democracy and Education; critique and recreate Deweyan democratic pluralism from a contemporary European perspective that acknowledges the importance of postmodern and poststructuralist thought; examine Dewey’s theory of inquiry in ways that illuminate his thinking about the deliberative functions of democracy; and probe the communicative aspects of democracy, emphasizing how emotions and interests both help and hinder communication. These essays challenge, revise, and reinvigorate Deweyan thinking, offering guidance for deeply democratic remedies to the fears, ontological wounds, and practical needs that characterize our problematic times.