Description
Book SynopsisHow can we create and sustain an America that never was, but should be? How can we build a truly multiracial democracy in which everyone is valued and possesses the needed political, economic and social capital so that democracy becomes a meaningful way of life, for all citizens? By critically probing these questions, the editors of
Community Wealth Building and the Reconstruction of American Democracy seize the opportunity to bridge the gap between our democratic aspirations and our current reality.
In a moment of democratic disappointment and anxiety, politicians, policy officials, scholars and citizens desire an effective response. This book assembles new voices and novel perspectives that offer a compelling vision for democracy and the prospects and possibilities afforded by community wealth building, an emerging policy paradigm focused on community-based, creative solutions to systemic problems. The contributors explore how, by cultivating the capacities of citizens, American democracy can be revived - indeed, created - as a veritable practice of everyday life.
Scholars of democracy in political science, history, sociology, public policy, economics, African-American studies and related topics as well as policy practitioners, journalists and students will appreciate the cutting-edge work by leading scholars and the contributions from impactful practitioners from the White House to City Halls, in this discussion of the challenges facing contemporary American democracy and the prospects for reform and change.
Table of ContentsContents: PART I COMMUNITY WEALTH BUILDING AND THE PROMISE OF DEMOCRATIC RECONSTRUCTION 1 Introduction: can we make American democracy work? 3 Melody C. Barnes, Corey D.B. Walker and Thad M. Williamson 2 Becoming the American community we should be—but have never been 11 Melody C. Barnes and Thad M. Williamson PART II RACIAL JUSTICE AND AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 3 Repairing American democracy? 39 Lawrie Balfour 4 Paidea , politics, and the people: deep democracy and the new urban commons 58 Corey D.B. Walker PART III POLITICAL ECONOMY AND COMMUNITY WEALTH BUILDING 5 Capitalism and the future of democracy 78 Isabel Sawhill 6 Community wealth building: lessons from Italy 102 Margaret Kohn 7 A place to call home? Property, freedom, and the commonwealth 117 Richard Dagger PART IV THE POLITICS OF DEMOCRATIC REFORM 8 Achieving accountability—or not—in contemporary times 132 Kenneth P. Ruscio 9 Ranking ballots and policy juries: institutional reforms in America 147 Jason S. Maloy 10 Gendered (and racialized) partisan polarization 161 Nicholas J.G. Winter 11 “Many new barriers”: democracy and resistance to the Voting Rights Act of 1965 181 Julian Maxwell Hayter PART V TOWARD A PRACTICAL POLITICS OF COMMUNITY WEALTH BUILDING 12 Targeted universalism in urban communities: racial discourse and policy rhetoric as harmony 198 Ravi K. Perry 13 Identifying structural racism as a barrier to community wealth building 220 Risha R. Berry 14 The university as anchor institution in community wealth building: snapshots from two Virginia universities 244 Barbara Brown Wilson and Meghan Z. Gough 15 Conclusion: the promise of 21st-century democratic renewal 259 Corey D.B. Walker and Thad M. Williamson Index
