This collection offers insight about the ongoing plight of democracy on the global terrain with an emphasis on Europe from a variety of writers. The articles in the book converges on a number of subjects such as democratic fatigue, rise of populism, the subjugation of democracy under neoliberal economies. But the main theme that the various articles revolve around is, for me, the “great regression” that threatens the centuries-old European Project of a great progressive walk towards a universal polity: “The most conspicuous, conflict-pregnant and potentially explosive marker of the current moment is the intention to retreat from Kant’s vision of a forthcoming Bürgerliche Vereinigung der Menschheit, coinciding with the realities of the advanced and escalating globalization of finance, industry, trade,information and all forms and shapes of law-breaking. Its close associate is the confrontation of a Klein abermein (‘small but mine’) mindset and sentiment with the reality of an increasingly cosmopolitan existential condition.” (Introduction)

This crisis of the universalist project of the Enlightenment alongside “Israelization of the world” (wow, what a choice of words to describe the situation in Western liberal democratic countries) is the main topic of the book. While it is a good opportunity to read numerous writers at once, some of the articles might come as repetitive, especially considering the readers of this kind of a book would inevitably have read the previous articles from the authors (for example Zizek and Mason among some others was a little predictable for me). But still the fact that it is not an academic book makes it even more appealing for general audiences.

My favorite articles in the book were from the great Nancy Fraser on “progressive neoliberalism” and Pankaj Mishra on “ressentiment”. Another personal favorite was Eva Ilrouz on Israeli politics.