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I have done several interviews on both the economy and democracy. One of my central motives for doing these interviews is a longing manifested in a quest to find alternatives that reshape and improve upon the way our economy is currently run and our democracy is currently practiced. The root of this longing and quest is in my understanding of my Christian faith. Shaped by the hope theology of Jurgen Moltmann and the multiple liberation theologies of gender, identity, race, and politics, in my own way, I am seeking, and hope to persuade you by this podcast to join me in this quest, to help create the world Jesus envisioned—one where all are loved and cared for. Achieving this quest and goal will require significant changes in how we do the economy and our democracy.
Vital in all of this is to find real ways to move from thought to practice or praxis, as the liberation theologians advocate. The Steady State economists have offered doable and practical policy options, but the next step is finding candidates willing to run for office on those policies. Jeffrey Stout, building on the long and solid work of community organizing has provided especially helpful guidance in practicing grass roots democracy. Joerg Rieger, in the work of The Wendland-Cook Program in Religion and Justice, offers a myriad of opportunities in which Christians and churches can participate in the alternatives of a solidarity economy and an intersectional democracy.
Putting all of this together into a useful framework would be a major find and substantive step forward. Although it is not her intent, because her intended audience is primarily secular, nevertheless, I think I have found in Danielle Allen’s Justice by Means of Democracy something very close to what I am looking for. What she has done in this work is to provide a thorough-going model, and, as important, the means of making it practical and useful. Again, although her intended audience is secular, in my mind, it is especially compatible with the kind of Christian alternatives offered by such folks as Joerg Rieger, Jurgen Moltmann, and the liberation theologians.
Danielle Allen is James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University. She is also Director of the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation at the Harvard Kennedy School and Director of the Democratic Knowledge Project-Learn, a research lab focused on civic education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Outside the university, she is a co-chair of the Our Common Purpose commission on democracy reform at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and as board chair at Partners In Democracy, she advocates for democracy reform to create greater voice and access in our democracy, and to drive progress towards a new social contract that serves and includes us all.
In addition to Justice by Means of Democracy, some of Professor Allen’s books include: Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality; Cuz: An American Tragedy; and Talking to Strangers: Anxieties of Citizenship since Brown v. Board of Education.
The links connecting state citizen education with Professor Allen’s Labs are Educating for American Democracy at https://www.educatingforamericandemocracy.org
and Democratic Knowledge Project at https://democraticknowledgeproject.org.
The intro and outro music for this episode is from a clip of a song called ‘Father Let Your Kingdom Come’ which is found on The Porter’s Gate Worship Project Work Songs album and is used by permission by The Porter’s Gate Worship Project.
