ABSTRACT
This chapter considers John Dewey calls across several of their recent contexts which comprises: attempts to respond to concerns regarding social pluralism; questions concerning power, nation-states and sovereignty; and the possible relations between human rights, democracy and the achievement of global social justice. Although these calls arise from and drive a broader range of projects than those specifically identified as radical democracies, they do all open issues that also inform a number of the radical democratic trajectories. The chapter clarifies some of the core tensions driving both liberal democratic thinkers and their critics and traces some of the problems and ideas that have become important exemplars and/or sources for radical democratic thinkers. Framed as the maximized political recognition and elaboration of both equality and liberty, much democratic theory and practice, as seen, still remains open to questions concerning the management of social pluralism.
