Democratic Problem-Solving

To what extent is neoliberalism undermining democracy and distorting the values of science? Can and should science be treated as an exemplar for a more dialogic democracy? Are universities and public intellectuals able to develop a more dialogically engaged public? What role should there be for experts in a more dialogic democracy? Does information and communications technology present a potential to enhance democracy or increase the control and manipulation of knowledge and the public by corporations?

This timely volume explores these pressing questions, in a dialogue based on developing and applying the recovery of the critical Popper, which highlights his contemporary relevance to the critique of neoliberal political economy in the age of technocapitalism.


This book will be discussed in an online roundable on the Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective. Information about the SERRC can be found here:https://social-epistemology.com/

Justin Cruickshank is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Birmingham. He is the author of Realism and Sociology (2002) and editor of Critical Realism: The Difference it Makes (2003).

Raphael Sassower is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. He is the author or co-author of twenty books, including Compromising the Ideals of Science (2015), The Price of Public Intellectuals (2014), Religion and Sports in American Culture (2014), and Digital Exposure: Postmodern Postcapitalism (2013).

Acknowledgements / Introduction /PART 1: LINKING PHILOSOPHY AND POLITICS/1.Anti-Authority: Comparing Popper and Rorty on the Dialogic Development of Beliefs and PracticesJustin Cruickshank / 2.A Bridge over Turbulent WatersRaphael Sassower /3.Context and ContestationJustin Cruickshank / 4.Problem-Solving: Critical ContingenciesRaphael Sassower / 5. There Are No Dangerous IdeasJoseph Agassi /PART 2: SCIENCE, PROBLEM-SOLVING AND SOCIOLOGY / 6.Science, Democracy and the Sociology of Power
Isaac Ariail Reed /7.Criticism versus DogmatismJustin Cruickshank / 8.The Problem of Demarcation Isnt Going Away Raphael Sassower and Seif Jensen/PART 3: DEMOCRACY, EDUCATION AND THE ROLE OFINTELLECTUALS IN PUBLIC LIFE/ 9.Democracy, Criticism and the Problems Facing Dialogue Justin Cruickshank/ 10.Beyond Lamentations: Overcoming Neoliberalism? Raphael Sassower/ 11.The Politics of Definitions and Neoliberal Interventionism Justin Cruickshank and Ioana CerasellaChis / 12.Appealing to Academics to Become Public Intellectuals Raphael Sassower /13.The Cost of Public Intellectuals Ioana Cerasella Chis and Justin Cruickshank /14.Radical Public Intellectuals
Raphael Sassower/PART 4: FROM PUBLIC INTELLECTUALS TO POLITICAL
ECONOMY AND TECHNOLOGY/15.Public Intellectuals and the Political Economy of Food
Justin Cruickshank and Ioana Cerasella Chis /16. Desiderata of the Future of Political Economy Raphael Sassower/17.The Neoliberal Political Economy of Science and
Higher EducationJustin Cruickshank / 18.The Problem of Technocapitalism
Ioana Cerasella Chis and Justin CruickshankPART 5: DEMOCRACY, DIALOGUE, EXPERTS AND ELITES /19.Envisioning Peaceful Democratic DialoguesRaphael Sassower /20.Democracy, Experts and Elites: The Case of BrexitJustin Cruickshank with Ioana Cerasella Chis/Conclusion/Bibliography/ Index/About the Authors