Demokratia: A Conversation on Democracies, Ancient and Modern

by Josiah Ober (Editor), Charles Hedrick (Editor)

Overview

This book is the result of a long and fruitful conversation among practitioners of two very different fields: ancient history and political theory. The topic of the conversation is classical Greek democracy and its contemporary relevance. The nineteen contributors remain diverse in their political commitments and in their analytic approaches, but all have engaged deeply with Greek texts, with normative and historical concerns, and with each others' arguments. The issues and tensions examined here are basic to both history and political theory: revolution versus stability, freedom and equality, law and popular sovereignty, cultural ideals and social practice. While the authors are sharply critical of many aspects of Athenian society, culture, and government, they are united by a conviction that classical Athenian democracy has once again become a centrally important subject for political debate.


The contributors are Benjamin R. Barber, Alan Boegehold, Paul Cartledge, Susan Guettel Cole, W. Robert Connor, Carol Dougherty, J. Peter Euben, Mogens H. Hansen, Victor D. Hanson, Carnes Lord, Philip Brook Manville, Ian Morris, Martin Ostwald, Kurt Raaflaub, Jennifer Tolbert Roberts, Barry S. Strauss, Robert W. Wallace, Sheldon S. Wolin, and Ellen Meiksins Wood.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691227887
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	03/09/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	496
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Josiah Ober is the David Magie Professor of Ancient History in the Classics Department of Princeton University. Charles Hedrick is Associate Professor of History at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Contributors

Introduction: Democracies Ancient and Modern

The Strong Principle of Equality and the Archaic Origins of Greek Democracy

Shares and Rights: "Citizenship" Greek Style and American Style

Transgression, Equality, and Voice

The Ancient Athenian and the Modern Liberal View of Liberty as a Democratic Ideal

Law, Freedom, and the Concept of Citizens' Rights in Democratic Athens

Demos versus "We, the People": Freedom and Democracy Ancient and Modern

Equalities and Inequalities in Athenian Democracy

Comparatively Equal

Athenian Equality: A Constant Surrounded by Flux

Resistance to Change in the Law at Athens

Civil Society, Dionysiac Festival, and the Athenian Democracy

Oath Ritual and the Male Community at Athens

Democratic Contradictions and the Synoptic Illusion of Euripides' Ion

Aristotle and the Idea of Liberal Education

Hoplites into Democrats: The Changing Ideology of Athenian Infantry

The Athenian Trireme, School of Democracy

Reading Democracy: "Socratic" Dialogues and the Political Education of Democratic Citizens

Misreading Democracy: Peter Euben and the Gorgias

Ancient Greek Democracy and the Modern Knowledge-Based Organization: Reflections on the Ideology of Two Revolutions

Bibliography

Index

Editorial Reviews

"The excellent collection of essays edited by Ober and Hedrick rewards the reader with a state-of-the-art survey from different perspectives on the topic of ancient democracy: what characterizes all the essays is the constant attention to the lesson that modern democracy can learn from looking back to its ancestral model."

Political Studies

"The excellent collection of essays edited by Ober and Hedrick rewards the reader with a state-of-the-art survey from different perspectives on the topic of ancient democracy: what characterizes all the essays is the constant attention to the lesson that modern democracy can learn from looking back to its ancestral model."—Political Studies

From the Publisher