Carol Gould, “Interactive Democracy: The Social Roots of Global Justice” (Cambridge UP, 2014)
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What is Interactive Democracy and why does it matter for modern politics?
Welcome to the New Books and Philosophy Channel of the New Books Network. My name is Robert Talis. I'm professor of philosophy at Vanderbilt University. I co host a channel with Carrie Figder. Carrie is associate professor of philosophy at the University of Iowa. Today my guest is Professor Carol Gould. Her new book is titled Interactive Democracy The Social Roots of Global Justice. It has just been published by Cambridge University Press. Gould is distinguished professor of philosophy and political science at Hunter College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Contemporary advances in technology have in many ways made the world smaller. It is now possible for vast numbers of geographically disparate people to interact with
Communicate, coordinate, and plan. These advances potentially bring considerable benefits to democracy, greater participation, more inclusion, easier dissemination of knowledge, and so on. Yet they also raised unique challenges. As that same technology that facilitates interaction also enables enhanced surveillance as well as new forms of exclusion. In interactive democracy, Carol Gould aims to develop a conception of democracy that acknowledges the new democratic possibilities. While being attuned to the need to protect human rights, cultural difference, and individual freedom. The result is a fascinating discussion of modern democracy. Let's turn to the interview. Hello, Carol Gould.
Hi, Bob.
How are you doing today?
I'm fine, thank you.
Well, thank you for joining me on New Books in Philosophy.
Oh, my pleasure.
And thank you, listeners, for tuning in to our podcast. My guest is Carol Gould. And we'll be talking about her new book. It's titled Interactive Democracy The Social Roots of Global Justice. Now in this book Carol builds upon the philosophical framework that she's been developing throughout her career and through a span of uh several important books and articles. Um and she here is turning her attention to some pressing and in some cases still emerging problems confronting democracy worldwide. Uh more specifically, Carol is interested uh in articulating a viable ideal of democracy in light of some difficulties that are posed by globalisation Uh Globalized poverty and inequality. and certain technological advances that both enable enhanced opportunities for communication but also facilitate enhanced surveillance and other forms of monitoring.
Interactive democracy presents some big ideas and it's a relatively concise uh book. I highly recommend it. Uh and there's lots to talk about. Um but first, Carol, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Oh well, okay. I'm originally from New York City. And uh where I still live mostly. Um And uh presently I teach at uh I'm a distinguished professor at Hunter College and the Graduate Center of City University of New York. um in philosophy and political science. Um my trajectory began um as a student in ph in philosophy that is, as a student at the University of Chicago, where I was forced to declare myself in my first year as to whether I was a Platonist or an Aristotelian. As everyone had to commit to one or the other. Uh not really being sure at all. I uh took uh a bunch of uh courses uh focusing a lot on on the classics but also Um, having the opportunity to study with some great professors, including
Um a graduate course that I took as an undergraduate with Hannah Arendt. which was called Reconsideration of Basic Moral Propositions from Socrates to Nietzsche.
Um
but I also studied with Richard McKeon and had a good exposure to um Dewey as well as Aristotle and to um pluralistic approaches in philosophy. I was very interested in that time in philosophy in relation to psychology and I studied some phenomenology. Um, I went on at Yale and got a good grounding in history of philosophy. uh but also was very influenced uh by um the late sixties um social movements and um the new forms of participatory democracy that were uh coming into prominence and at the time. So I began to reflect more on
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is Interactive Democracy and why does it matter for modern politics?
0:08–8:31
2
How does Carol Gould’s personal and academic background shape her view of democracy?
8:31–17:13
3
What is Gould’s social‑ontology of individuals in relations and why is it important?
17:13–25:57
4
How does Gould define “equal positive freedom” and what are its implications for justice?
25:57–33:39
5
In what ways does the book connect human rights, solidarity, and global justice?
33:39–42:05
6
How does interactive democracy address the opportunities and risks of new communication technologies?
42:05–50:11
7
Why does Gould devote a chapter to humor, jokes, and cross‑cultural dialogue?
50:11–58:23
8
What are Gould’s upcoming projects and how might they extend the ideas of interactive democracy?
58:23–1:05:18
Speakers
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