Project Democracy
Voices of the People, for the People, by the People
Project Democracy is an online platform for voices on democracy. We believe democracy isn’t just about elections, governance, popular ideologies and political parties. Personal is Political. Power and politics pervade every walk of life; public, personal, social, economic, psychological and educational. Hence even democracy is a way of life that depends on the everyday interactions of common people.
For a democracy to function, its citizens must
- Be receptive to those who don’t agree with them
- Subject themselves to the same rules of argumentation and civility as their adversaries, and
- Remain self skeptical and willing to change their own opinions, if proved wrong.
Such interactions are called Democratic Discourse. However, from dinner table conversations and WhatsApp texts, to romantic relationships and political rallies , empathetic democratic discourse is being undermined by something known as demagoguery.
Demagoguery is
- Our myopic perception and prejudiced rhetoric against those different from us.
- Reduction of every argument into a question of the stakeholder’s identities
- What matters is whether you belong to a certain group or not.
For example a US President infamously declared in the aftermath of 9/11, “You’re either with us, or you’re against us”. Debate is rarely centered around specific issues and middle grounds have been lost in the battle between religious groups or the left and right.
Project Democracy is an attempt to combat demagoguery and the breakdown of democratic discourse by setting up a platform for people’s voices on the subject. It started off as an anthology of short stories that document everyday encounters with demagoguery and its effect on democratic discourse. We now seek to expand by including multiple forms of writing and expression like opinion editorials (Op-Eds), essays, poems, articles and short films. Staying faithful to the democratic spirit we invite you to contribute to and shape this journey by writing for us.
Many of us are writing outside the realm of academics for the first time and hope the readers regard our endeavour with gentleness and empathy. This is what we have attempted to do with this publication as well: to infuse empathy and understanding into life and politics through writing. We hope this little journey would be as moving, exciting and insightful for you as it was for us. Without further ado, we invite you to be part of Project Democracy: Voices of the People, for the People, by the People.
Our Journey
Like every movement, we have a history and we believe history matters. Project Democracy started off as an academic assignment in the Critical Writing classroom of Young India Fellowship in late 2019.
In our Critical Writing Module, we set out to explore different forms of narrative driven reasoning. As citizens of the world’s largest democracy which had found itself at historical crossroads due to political turmoil and popular demonstrations we realized that the political arena is the most fitting avenue for this enquiry. This led us to understand that the breakdown of democracy isn’t just a matter of electoral politics but something deeper and more fundamental that pervades even basic human interactions. This something is Demagoguery.
Reflecting on our in-class learnings, we thus have a collective realisation that perhaps for things to change, we have to write our way out of it. Project Democracy is our humble effort at that; to set up a platform that gives voice to experiences and thoughts about demagoguery and democratic discourse in the everyday lives of people. We seek to grow Project Democracy into a people’s movement for infusing empathy and understanding into life and politics through writing.
Disclaimer:
All writings on this blog are published with a bonafide intention only for entertainment and informative purposes and must not be construed as professional expertise on any subject matter. They are not meant to defame or offend any individual, organisation or community. The opinions, facts and ideas expressed in the blog solely belong to their respective authors and are authentic to the best of their knowledge and subject to change without prior notice. While Ashoka University stands for freedom of speech and expression, the views and opinions of the authors are not affiliated with Ashoka University as an institution. Any error in the information provided in the blog is unintentional and readers are advised to read at their own risk.
Contact us
Mail to projectdemocracy.yif@gmail.com
Follow us on Instagram @projectdemocracy.yif
Follow us on Twitter @pdemocracyyif
Contributors
