My work is at the intersection of subjectivity and public life, where people’s abilities and opportunities to shape their common world are realized. I take this to be central to democracy. Accordingly, in my view, to be told that one does not matter, that what one cares about will never be heeded, is to be effectively stripped of the title of citizen. This is the form that political evil takes.
Alternatively, real democracy means that everyone affected by common matters should have a voice and the power to shape these maters. Such power is rarely given but rather claimed. My work focuses on the deep roots that stand in the way of making such claims, on how such claims are in fact enacted, and on how democracy can flourish even int the face of anti-political and anti-democratic forces, including the ones that people impose on themselves.