Beyond Empathy and Inclusion : The Challenge of Listening in Democratic Deliberation

Political theorists often see deliberation--understood as communication and debate among citizens--as a fundamental act of democratic citizenship. In other words, the legitimacy of a decision is not simply a function of the number of votes received, but the quality of the deliberation that precedes voting. Efforts to enhance the quality of deliberation have focused on designing more inclusive deliberative procedures or encouraging citizens to be more internally reflective or empathetic. But the adequacy of such efforts remains questionable. Beyond Empathy and Inclusion aims to better understand the prospects of democracy in a world where citizens are often uninterested or unwilling to engage across social distance and disagreement. Specifically, the book considers how our practices of listening affect the quality and democratic potential of deliberation. Mary F. Scudder offers a systematic theory of listening acts to explain the democratic force of listening. Modeled after speech act theory, Scudder's listening act theory shows how we do something in the act of listening, independent of the outcomes of this act. In listening to our fellow citizens, we recognize their moral equality of voice. Being heard by our fellow citizens is what ensures we have a say in the laws to which we are held. The book also tackles timely questions regarding the limits of toleration and listening in a democratic society. Do we owe listening even to democracy's enemies? After all, a virtue of democratic citizenship is the ability to resist political movements that seek to destroy democracy. Despite these challenges and risks, Scudder shows that listening is a key responsibility of democratic citizenship, and examines how listening can be used defensively to protect against threats to democracy. While listening is admittedly difficult, especially in pluralist societies, this book investigates how to motivate citizens to listen seriously, attentively, and humbly, even to those with whom they disagree. "What makes deliberation meaningfully democratic? Beyond Empathy and Inclusion: The Challenge of Listening in Democratic Deliberation answers that it's the fair consideration or "uptake" of others' perspectives. Efforts to democratize deliberation should focus as much on expanding uptake as on broadening inclusion. The book goes on to evaluate various practices of citizenship for their ability to promote fair consideration, especially in contexts of deep difference and disagreement. Specifically, it examines the role empathy should play in promoting uptake. Deflating overblown appeals to empathy, the book shows that empathy's reliance on imagination and commonality make it ill-suited for sustaining communication across difference. Moving beyond empathy and inclusion, the book argues that fair consideration is predicated on attentive listening. It develops a "theory of listening acts" - modeled after Austin's speech act theory - to show how we act in listening. In listening to our fellow citizens, we recognize their moral equality of voice. The act of listening itself, wherein citizens acknowledge each other as having a rightful say in the decision at hand, confers democratic force on deliberation. This democratic force of listening comes from the particular affective-cognitive disposition citizens adopt when engaging with others. The book investigates how to motivate citizens to listen seriously, attentively, and humbly even to those with whom they disagree. It concludes by explaining that while a listening-centered approach to deliberation cannot resolve all of the challenges of deliberating across difference, its democratic power comes from the fact that it takes these challenges seriously"-- Provided by publisher Cover Beyond Empathy and Inclusion Copyright Dedication Contents Acknowledgments 1. The Challenge of Listening 1.1 Situating the Project 1.2 Outline of the Book 2. The Insufficiency of Inclusion and the Need for Uptake 2.1 Inclusion and the Democratic Force of Deliberation 2.2 The Insufficiency of Inclusion 2.3 Unpacking Uptake 2.4 Uptake as a Universal Ideal? 2.5 Conclusion 3. Empathy as a Strategy and Ideal of Deliberation: The Promise and Perils 3.1 The Empathic Turn in Democratic Deliberation 3.2 Pathologies of Empathy 3.3 Conclusion 4. A Listening-​Centered Approach to Democratic Deliberation 4.1 The Politics of Listening 4.2 Listening Act Theory 4.3 Conclusion 5. Listening toward Democracy 5.1 Performative Democratic Listening 5.2 Conditions of Democratic Listening 5.3 Empirical Markers of Listening 5.4 Conclusion 6. Listening for Difference in Democracy 6.1 Challenges to Listening across Difference 6.2 Difference and Democracy 6.3 The Democratic Value of Recognizing the Limits of Mutual Understanding 6.4 Listening to Difference as a Strategy for Democratizing Deliberation 6.5 Conclusion 7. Democratic Ideals in a Non-​Ideal World 7.1 Uptake in the Real World 7.2 Challenging Democracy 7.3 What Do We Do When Ideal Standards Are Not Met or Repeatedly Violated? References Index 'Beyond Empathy and Inclusion' examines how to achieve democratic rule in large pluralistic societies where citizens are deeply divided. Scudder argues that listening is key; in a democracy, citizens do not have to agree with their political opponents, but they do have to listen to them. Being heard is what ensures we have a say in the laws to which we are held. While listening is admittedly difficult, this text investigates how to motivate citizens to listen seriously, attentively, and humbly, even to those with whom they disagree Beyond Empathy and Inclusion examines how to achieve democratic rule in large pluralistic societies where citizens are deeply divided. Scudder argues that listening is key; in a democracy, citizens do not have to agree with their political opponents, but they do have to listen to them. Being heard is what ensures we have a say in the laws to which we are held. While listening is admittedly difficult, this book investigates how to motivate citizens to listenseriously, attentively, and humbly, even to those with whom they disagree