Democracy or Democratic Society. Dewey's Concept of Democracy in the Context of Left-Radical Thought

The article considers the John Dewey’s concept of democracy with regard to earlier and to contemporary left-radical ideas. The article highlights similar epistemological, anthropological and political views in these theories. Very important is the rejection or the underestimation of the political democracy and the emphasis on the democratic life in order to build a new society, quite different from the existing societies. The article consists of three parts. The first part examines the understanding of democracy as a non political phenomenon and as a synonym for a new type of human existence by the early Marx and the later view of Marx and Lenin on the democracy as “hypocrisy”. The second part analyzes the Dewey’s concept of democracy as “a mode of associated living” and draws attention to some significant resemblances and also some differences from the early conception of Marx. The third part considers the understanding of the democratic society as identical with the global society in which the communication of the people is not restricted by political borders. In this question there are also identified significant similarities between the conceptions of Marx, Dewey and some contemporary thinkers . The conclusion is that the political democracy and the democratic society are compatible, but the idea of some kind of new non-political democratic society besides global society is deemed as unrealistic