Roberto Mangabeira Unger’s theory of high-energy democracy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.48143/rdai.34.teixeiraKeywords:
Institutional constructivism, Experimentalism, Democracy, Unger, Progressive left-wingAbstract
The article discusses the political thought of Roberto Mangabeira Unger and his project to radicalize the democratic ideology which, by considering society as an artifice - capable of being remade and reimagined -, believes that the most important and fruitful task for political and legal theory is to propose other institutional orders that encourage the permanent revision of their formative contexts. In this sense, the study, based on a conceptual essay and bibliographical analysis, highlights his efforts to overcome two prominent conceptions in the field of social theory: the theory of deep structure and positivist social science. Mangabeira Unger's thinking also emphasizes the need to removal the fetishisms that hinder the progress of transformative politics, such as the belief that abstract institutional concepts such as the democratic regime, civil society and the market economy would have a natural and necessary institutional expression,resulting from the best practices that have developed in the course of history. It is thus of fundamental interest to constitutional thinking in its quest to provide alternatives in the practical organization of societies, particularly in the chapter on political power. After outlining the programmatic dimension of the Brazilian thinker's perspective, the text presents and reflects on the paths he suggests, capable of promoting advances in the democratic agenda.
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