The Crisis of Liberal Democracy

In 2016 when voters rejected the U.S. political Establishment, both Democratic and Republican, the long festering crisis of liberal democracy suddenly became visible. The loss of legitimacy by the political elite produced a President Trump. As Michael Moore pointed out, angry voters threw a human hand grenade into a political system that had failed to respond to their pain.

Cliff DuRand will discuss the reasons for this crisis, its consequences and what we can do about it. It’s the story of globalization, neoliberalism, concentration of wealth, racism, and much more. The consequences have shocked progressive minded people into action. They are searching for ways forward through electoral politics, mass protests, building local alternatives. Suddenly ‘socialism’ returned to the popular vocabulary. But what does that mean? And what is possible given the current social context?

Cliff DuRand is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Morgan State University in Baltimore and a founder of the Center for Global Justice. He is editor/author of Recreating Democracy in a Globalized State and Moving Beyond Capitalism.