1-Hour Special: A Prescription for Real Social Change
Audio here!
In this previously aired (albeit with poor sound quality), political philosopher Takis Fotopoulos presented his case for an alternative libratory model for reaching a healthier, happier, freer, and more humanistic future society. Fotopoulos’ model is called Inclusive Democracy, which according to him, “is derived from a synthesis of two major historical traditions: the classical democratic, and the socialist. It also encompasses radical green, feminist, indigenous and liberation movements in the South.”
The crux of Fotopoulos’ ideas amount to, “communities run on the basis of direct political democracy, as well as economic democracy (beyond the confines of the market economy and statist planning), democracy in the social realm, and ecological democracy.” Accordingly, in an inclusive democracy, “politics is no longer a technique for holding and exercising power, but the self-management of society by its members.”
Takis Fotopoulos is a political philosopher, writer, editor, ex-academic and activist. After studying Politics, Economics and Law at the University of Athens in Greece, he moved to London for postgraduate study at the London School of Economics, on a scholarship from Athens University. Fotopoulos was a Senior Lecturer in Economics at the University of North London for over 20 years, and is noted for his synthesis of classical democracy with libertarian-socialism, as well as the radical currents found in the new social movements. He has written many books and over 600 articles which have been published in various languages. Fotopoulos is also the editor of The International Journal of Inclusive Democracy (which succeeded Democracy & Nature) and author of Towards An Inclusive Democracy in which the foundations of the inclusive democracy project were set.