Anti-democratic lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic? Deweyan-Confucian reflections on democratic aspirations in East Asia

Author

Sor-hoon TAN, Singapore Management UniversityFollow

Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

3-2021

Abstract

The election of Donald trump, Brexit and the drift towards authoritarianism of several third wave democracies raise questions and doubts about democracy. Some may see the pandemic having a further dampening effect on democratic aspirations in East Asia, this article argues that the mixed lessons of the pandemic suggest that East Asia would benefit from more, not less, democracy. The democracy they need is not the form of de facto American liberal democracy, but democracy suited to the Confucian cultures of various East Asian societies, understood as Dewey’s idea of community.

Keywords

Democracy, Pragmatism, Confucianism, Freedom

Discipline

Public Health

Research Areas

Humanities

Publication

Dewey Studies

Volume

5

Issue

2

First Page

150

Last Page

161

ISSN

2572-4649

Citation

TAN, Sor-hoon.(2021). Anti-democratic lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic? Deweyan-Confucian reflections on democratic aspirations in East Asia. Dewey Studies, 5(2), 150-161.

Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3652

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Additional URL

http://www.johndeweysociety.org/dewey-studies/files/2021/07/DS-5.1-Final.pdf