Decolonizing deliberative democracy

Abstract

Deliberative democracy advances an emancipatory project of inclusion, equality, and freedom. Yet these ideals have been produced within a context structured by colonial power. This article argues that if deliberative democracy is to unfold its full democratic potential, it needs to face its colonial legacies and position a decolonizing ethos at its center. The article proposes a framework consisting of six moves toward decolonizing deliberative democracy—three deconstructive and three reconstructive: 1. acknowledging modernity's violence; 2. recognizing epistemic injustices within the knowledge production of deliberative democracy; 3. criticizing the colonial drive of deliberative institutions; 4. theorizing from the bottom up by and with Indigenous and marginalized groups; 5. engaging in an open dialogue with the Global South scholarship; 6. focusing on emancipation.