Democracy, Politics, and Freedom

Discovery Core Experience: I&S Courses

B CORE 118 (I&S)

60-Second Syllabus: Democracy, Politics, and Freedom

About This Course:

Few would argue that freedom is a central value of democracy, yet our political discourse and policies reveal substantial disagreement about what freedom means. In this class, we will read authors who approach the issue of freedom as a question with many different answers. We will examine what they see as the most pressing threats to it, as well what social conditions best permit it to flourish, from a range of perspectives including liberalism, existentialism, Marxism, anarchism, communitarianism, and critical race theory. In so doing, we will also consider how their visions of freedom and related critiques of domination and oppression are nested in broader theories concerning selfhood and identity, economics, and the role of government in ordering social life. By exploring freedom as a democratic question, we will gain a deeper understanding of freedom as a concept, as well as appreciation for the diversity of democratic ideals.

Professor Jason Frederick Lambacher (He/Him/His)

School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences

About Professor Lambacher:

Ph.D. Political Science, University of Washington 2013

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