Condition of Democracy

Jürgen Mackert is Professor of Sociology and co-director of the ‘Centre for Citizenship, Social Pluralism and Religious Diversity' at Potsdam University, Germany. His research interests include sociology of citizenship, political economy, closure theory and collective violence. Recent publication: Social life as collective struggle: Closure theory, and the problem of solidarity, SOZIALPOLITIK.CH (2021).Hannah Wolf is a Researcher and Lecturer at the Chair for General Sociology at the University of Potsdam, and associate member at the DFG-collaborative research centre 'Re-Figuration of Spaces'. Her research interests include urban sociology, theories of space and place and citizenship studies. Latest publication: Am Ende der Globalisierung: Über die Refiguration von Räumen (ed. with Martina Löw, Volkan Sayman and Jona Schwerer), 2021, transcript.Bryan S. Turner is Research Professor of Sociology at the Australian Catholic University (Sydney), Emeritus Professor at the Graduate Center CUNY, Honorary Max Planck Professor at Potsdam University Germany, and Research Fellow at the Edward Cadbury Center, University of Birmingham, UK. He holds a Cambridge Litt.D. In 2020 with Rob Stones he published ‘Successful Societies: Decision-making and the quality of attentiveness’, British Journal of Sociology, 71(1), 183–202.

"The editors, all members of the Centre for Citizenship, Social Pluralism and Religious Diversity at Potsdam University, have once again put together a wide ranging and informative anthology on the crises of democracy. This volume is a must read for scholars seeking an overview of the challenges that European states face viewed from a comparative perspective."Mabel Berezin, Professor of Sociology, Cornell University"This volume sets up a consideration for democratization today in the guise of 'Dahrendorf’s Paradox': if, say, our aim as citizens of the same polity is to end violence, and to do so only through democratic techniques (e.g. liberal, representative, deliberative, or still thousands more), exactly which techniques would we choose? The answer to just that question is anything but non-conflictual as your choice of democratic technique could in itself be anathema to mine or half-way to 'true democracy' as concerns the views of other citizens in our metaphorical polity. So policy proposals to end violence, though all democratic in how they are conceived by us, will at the same time be non or less-democratic. A paradox indeed. Thankfully, this volume does not leave us hanging by the wrists in this realm of tension but rather asks us to orient this perplexing energy at the end of violence, or mitigating xenophobia, or re-articulating citizenship. Bravo to the editors and contributors for this insightful and extremely useful collection."Jean-Paul Gagnon, Associate Professor of Politics, University of Canberra

• Introduction: Considering Democracies Part 1: Contesting Borders and Boundaries 1. Rescaling Citizenship: Inclusion and Exclusion of Refugees in Europe’s Multi-Level Governance Structure 2. Church Asylum as Ultima Ratio: Fighting for Access to German Society 3. Migration and Democracy: Reclaiming Democracy From its Nativist/Nationalist Closure Part 2: The Violence of Democracies 4. The Violence of Politics and the Participation of Citizens 5. The Crisis of Social Trust in Non-Violent Routines: Social Mobilization of Right-Wing Violence in Germany 6. Beyond Legal Referent: The Degradation of Citizenship Through The Yemen War Part 3: The Refiguration of Institutions 7. The Capture of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal and Its Impact on the Rights and Freedoms of Individuals 8. The Rise of Authoritarianism in the European Union: A Hybrid Regime in Hungary 9. Turkey’s Regime Transformation and its Emerging Police State: The Judicialization of Politics, Everyday Emergency, and Marginalizing Citizenship