On June 18th Jackie Harrison took part in a panel discussion at the launch of Andrew Gamble’s new book – Rethinking Democracy.
The event took place at the Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute (SPERI), where Jackie joined Andrew Gamble, Alan Finlayson and Michael Jacobs to discuss the current threats to democracy from populist nationalists, authoritarian rulers and new forms of digital political communication. The panel considered whether democracy is currently in retreat.
When reflecting on the role the civil power of the news plays in shaping the quality of the communicative base of democracies, Jackie argued that that if the civil role of news journalism is undermined through attacks upon journalists and the idea of journalism itself we are also in danger of losing the art of active citizenship and the freedoms and the rights which democracy has bestowed. To this end it is important that democracies seek to find ways to build up their civil resilience.
Click here for more details on Andrew Gamble’s book Rethinking Democracy.