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Spaces of Democracy
Geographical Perspectives on Citizenship, Participation and Representation

First Edition
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August 2004 | 264 pages | SAGE Publications Ltd
'This volume successfully exposes the "ghostly presence" of democracy in the field of geography and shows the value of thinking about democracy geographically. It is a major contribution to serious examination of a normative political issue from a geographical perspective. This is welcome above all because geography is a field whose cultural and economic branches, though often claiming the appellation "critical", are currently dominated by unexamined radical political fantasies' - John Agnew, University of California, Los Angeles

In an historically unprecedented way, democracy is now increasingly seen as a universal model of legitimate rule.This work addresses the key question: How can democracy be understood in theory and in practise?

In three thematically organised sections, Spaces of Democracy uses a critical geographical imagination (informed by thinking on space, place, and scale) to interrogate the latest work in democratic theory. Key ideas and concepts discussed include globalization and transnationalism; representation; citizenship; liberalism; the city and public space; and the media.

This volume comprises commissioned work by leading academics investigating democracy. Historical and comparative, animated by wider debates on globalization, it will facilitate the critical discussion of core questions on citizenship, the state, and democracy. Spaces of Democracy is essential reading for students of human geography, political science/international relations, and political sociology.


Clive Barnett and Murray Low
Geography and Democracy
An Introduction

 
 
PART ONE: ELECTIONS, VOTING AND REPRESENTATION
John O'Loughlin
Global Democratization
Measuring and Explaining the Diffusion of Democracy

 
Ron Johnston and Charles Pattie
Electoral Geography in Electoral Studies
Putting Voters in Their Place

 
Richard L Morrill
Representation, Law and Redistricting in the United States
 
PART TWO: DEMOCRACY, CITIZENSHIP AND SCALE
Sallie A Marston and Katharyne Mitchell
Citizens and the State
Citizenship Formations in Space and Time

 
David M Smith
Open Borders and Free Population Movement
A Challenge for Liberalism

 
Murray Low
Cities as Spaces of Democracy
Complexity, Scale and Governance

 
 
PART THREE: MAKING DEMOCRATIC SPACES
Lynn A Staeheli and Don Mitchell
Spaces of Public and Private
Locating Politics

 
Gareth A Jones
The Geopolitics of Democracy and Citizenship in Latin America
Clive Barnett
Media, Democracy and Representation
Disembodying the Public

 
Sophie Watson
Cultures of Democracy
Spaces of Democratic Possibility

 
Byron Miller
Spaces of Mobilization
Transnational Social Movements

 

'This volume successfully exposes the "ghostly presence" of democracy in the field of geography and shows the value of thinking about democracy geographically. It is a major contribution to serious examination of a normative political issue from a geographical perspective. This is welcome above all because geography is a field whose cultural and economic branches, though often claiming the appellation "critical", are currently dominated by unexamined radical political fantasies' - John Agnew, University of California, Los Angeles


"This book is a welcome contribution to geographic studies of democracy for two reasons. Geographic  interpretation has much  to contribute to our understanding of political change subsumed under the term "democratization," and this book will serve as a solid addition to that body of literature. Second, this collection brings together a proven group of scholars from geography. Overall, this is a highly recommended collection."

Brennan Kraxberger
Christopher Newport University
Newport News

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