The second public event of our events series “Democracy: Bridging Facts and Norms” took place on February 18, 2016, at the University of Zurich. A large audience of about 400 people attended the lecture of the political philosopher and co-founder of the Basic Income Earth Network Philippe Van Parijs, who presented his perspective on “Justice, Democracy, and the Unconditional Basic Income“. The lecture was followed by a challenging discussion between Philippe Van Parijs and Reiner Eicheberger, Professor of Economics at the University of Fribourg. Moderated by the economic journalist Philipp Löpfe, this debate clarified the arguments in favour or against the introduction of an unconditional basic income in Switzerland –…
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Call for Papers: Graduate workshop “Contextualizing Democracy: Culture, Capitalism, Inequalities”
University of Zurich, June 9-10, 2016 Democratic ideals and norms need to be substantially defined, interpreted, and adapted to actual contexts. Compromises between different actors, and between ideals and practices thus become necessary. This highlights the importance of context for democratic politics: Democracy is always bound to specific cultures, forms of economic organization, and power structures. This observation raises diverse and interrelated questions: Are there contexts in which democratic ideals cannot be realized? Does the realization of democracy require specific shared cultural values? To what extent do democratic norms of self-governance conflict with other norms and ways of life in real-existing democracies? Is a certain level of wealth required for…