Theme Panel: Decolonizing Democracy: Lessons from the Global South

July 25, 2025 APSA Annual Meeting, Theme Panels Comments Off on Theme Panel: Decolonizing Democracy: Lessons from the Global South

Full Paper Panel with Virtual Participation

Participants:

  • (Discussant) David Temin, University of Michigan
  • (Chair) Jennifer Pitts, University of Chicago

Session Description:

Over the past decade, the movement to decolonize the social sciences has gained significant momentum, parelleling broader global concerns about democratic decline. Yet, the intersection of decolonization and democratic studies remains largely underexplored. What would it mean to decolonize the study and practice of democracy? How might our understanding of democracy shift if we decentered Western historical experience and the liberal democratic theory which undergirds much of this?
This panel seeks to advance this critical research agenda by exploring foundational questions through the lens of political movements, regimes, and theorists from the Global South: What, exactly, is democracy? If it means “rule of the people,” can it truly exist within societies and international systems characterized by deep inequalities in wealth and power? How does the foregrounding of global political economy challenge the analysis of democratization and democatic deepening/backsliding premised on methodologically nationalist assumptions of comparative politics? Can, for example, nations—especially those in the Global South—claim democratic legitimacy if their sovereignty is compromised by external actors?

To address these questions, we focus on critical analysis of global political economy as well as democratic experiments originating in the Global South, analyzing their distinctive features and the lessons they offer. By examining these cases and foregrounding global dynamics, the panel aims to contribute to a richer, more multifaceted understanding of democracy and its potential for transformation in a deeply unequal world.