LIS Education and New Conceptions of Democracy

Ryan P. RandallIndiana Universi ty

LIS Education and New Conceptions Of

Democracy

MLS Requirements at IU

Ryan P. Randall ∴ 2015 Symposium on LIS Education ∴ 2015-04-11

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Christine Pawley, “Hegemony’s Handmaid?”


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“Hegemony’s Handmaid? The Library and Information Studies Curriculum from a Class Perspective.” The Library Quarterly 68.2 (1998): 123-144. Web.

HegemonyClassPluralismManagerialis

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m



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From Antonio Gramsci:

“…a powerful group achieves hegemony when it gains control over a range of values and norms, to the extent that these are so embedded in society that they receive unquestioned acceptance” (127)


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Defi nes via E.P. Thompson:

“…how people actively make sense of their experiences, values, and traditions and how groups of people struggle to create and maintain a sense of identity,” which “…entails the notion of historical relationship” (126)


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Takes the individual as unit of analysis.

Key concepts are the individual, behavior, confl ict of interests, participation, and consensus.

Reinforces market, individual access, exchange of ideas.


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Takes the organization as its level of analysis.

Key concepts are bureaucracy, elite, rationality, formal vs informal, and simple vs complex.

Instead of market-based competition, gives power to elites, scientifi c study, and rationality.

Mark C. E. Peterson, “Grassroots and Habermas in West Bend: Some Refl ections”


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“Grassroots and Habermas in West Bend: Some Reflections.” Library Trends 64.2 (2014): 750-758. Web.

Public sphereEnlightenme

nt values vs Consumer values

Authority by rational discourse vs by customer satisfaction

Mark C. E. Peterson, “Grassroots and Habermas in West Bend: Some Refl ections”


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Jürgen Habermas’s theories, via John Buschman Authority in the public sphere depends on modes related to historically dominant socio-economic groups. Appeals to authority are therefore historically dependent.

Peterson laments the change from authority via Enlightenment rationality to current consumer satisfaction model

Chantal Mouffe, “Agonistic Democracy”


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Agonistics: Thinking the World Politically. (2013)

The Democratic Paradox. (2000)

The Return of the Political. (1993)

Dimensions of Radical Democracy: Pluralism, Citizenship, Community. (1992)

Agonistic pluralism

Confl ictual consensus

Pluralist democracy



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Agonistic pluralism


Pluralist democracy



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“Confl ict in liberal democratic societies cannot and should not be eradicated, since the specifi city of pluralist democracy is precisely the recognition and the legitimation of confl ict.”

“To put it in another way, what is important is that confl ict does not take the form of an ‘antagonism’ (struggle between enemies) but the form of an ‘agonism’ (struggle between adversaries).”

Agonistic pluralism


Pluralist democracy



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“The prime task of democratic politics is not to eliminate passions or to relegate them to the private sphere in order to establish a rational consensus in the public sphere.

Rather, it is to ‘sublimate’ those passions by mobilizing them towards democratic designs, by creating collective forms of identifi cation around democratic objectives.”

Agonistic pluralism


Pluralist democracy



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“In a pluralist democracy, disagreements about how to interpret the shared ethico-political principles are not only legitimate but also necessary. ”

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HegemonyPluralismManagerialis

mConfl ictual

consensusAgonism aka

Pluralist democracy

Conclusion: LIS Terms for Democracy


With these concepts, hopefully we can better address the distinct challenges faced by library and information workers.

Thanks!