ABSTRACT
Democracy is the new politics of this century, polyvalent, but indispensable as
rhetoric and form. Yet the age-old question of the relationship between formal, representative democracy and substantive democracy, or in Amartya Sen’s now
famous terminology, ‘capabilities and entitlements’,1 remains stubbornly
obscure, if never more relevant. The neo-liberal state and formal democracy are
increasingly taking isomorphic forms, diffusing across the globe as part of the
‘ideal’ state. In this context, the question of how different forms of citizenship,
including popular protest, can make substantive changes in the life chances of the
poor remains pressing. Put another way, the question is: under what conditions
can various ‘subaltern’ classes successfully use formal, representative democracy
to achieve basic and crucial freedoms and life-saving entitlements, whether it is
land, food, education, medicine, health care or minimum wages? Can popular
movements and insurgent associations undermine persistent inequalities from
within the norms and practices of formal democracy?2 Undoubtedly, these
questions require us to ask whether formal democracies can accommodate fruitful
democratic struggles – in support of broad popular interests within a democracy.
