ABSTRACT
In chapter 6 (“Conclusion”), Lucy Cane summarizes the arguments of the preceding chapters and revisits the parallel between Wolin and Tocqueville introduced in chapter 1. The central question of the book has been whether, or to what extent, Wolin can see through loss and theorize democracy in ways that do not involve merely retrieving a receding past. Cane argues that Wolin did make significant efforts to move beyond a backward-looking approach to democracy but was still not as reconciled to postmodernity as Tocqueville was to modernity. Despite this limitation, his work is still of substantial value. His mournful approach to democracy remains a powerful rebuke to liberal individualism and highlights the powerlessness that may result from the loss of local roots. From his efforts to see beyond this mournful lens, we have gained a generative conception of “polymorphous” democracy that may be extended beyond his expectations. And, while he did not fully transform some aspects of his “archaic” vision, this stands as a helpful warning to others of the risks of political melancholia.
