Which Theory of Democracy for an Inclusive Society? A Pragmaticist Approach
David Doat
Date: Wednesday 11th March 2015
Time: 2.15pm–3.45pm
Place: Eden 109, Liverpool Hope University, UK
Political theories of the modern contractualist tradition, from Thomas Hobbes to John Rawls, have provided substantial justifications to our Modern democratic system. Despite such indisputable gain, for decades scholars in both disability studies and care studies have pointed out the inability of the contractualist tradition to take into account the voice of disability in order to set up the principles of a genuinely inclusive society. Through analysis of John Rawls’ theory of justice, David Doat highlights what may be seen as the methodological, epistemological, and anthropological biases of contractarian tradition, whereby the voice of disabled people is not included at the very beginning of the decision making-processes of modern democratic societies. He highlights recent works on social and political justice that try to correct these biases, and asks for a pragmatist shift in the ways we "make democracy" in daily life.
David Doat is Full Assistant at Lille Catholic University, France. He was a visiting scholar at the CCDS in 2012 and has contributed to the CCDS book Changing Social Attitudes Toward Disability: Perspectives from historical, cultural, and educational studies (Routledge, 2014). He is currently working on his doctorate at the University of Namur, Belgium.
This seminar is part of the CCDS series, The Voice of Disability. Other dates include:
6 May 2015, The Stories We Tell: The Americans with Disabilities Act After 25 Years, Lennard J. Davis.
17 Jun 2015, ‘Working together for positive outcomes’: The Appropriation of Voice and Participation in SEN policy, Claire Penketh.
Also, Disability and Disciplines: The International Conference on Educational, Cultural, and Disability Studies will be held 1-2 July, 2015.
For further information please contact:
Dr David Bolt
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