How is democracy conceived in different traditions, and how is it valued in each of them? This panel discussion will attempt to shed light on these questions, honing various strands of global intellectual history, postcolonial theory and contemporary politics.

Our panellists:

- Prof. Jonathan Wolff (Blavatnik Professor of Public Policy, Oxford) will discuss democracy and Marxism;

- Prof. Nicholas Bunnin (Institute for Chinese Studies, Oxford) will consider contemporary democratic theory in light of three Confucian themes developed by Xunzi just before the unification of China by the first emperor: the rectification of names; the centrality of rites (li); and the priority of virtue (de) over law (fa).

- Prof. Karma Nabulsi (Associate Professor in Politics and International Relations, Oxford) will discuss relevant aspects of political theory in the case of Palestine;

- Puneet Dhaliwal (DPhil candidate, Department of Politics and International Relations, Oxford; Lecturer in Politics at St. Edmund Hall and St. Catherine’s College) will address democracy and (anti)Eurocentrism, and consider postcolonial inflections of Marxist theory in relation to global democratic politics.

Each speaker will give a concise presentation. This will be followed by a moderated panel discussion and Q&A.