Liberal rights discourse and democratic frontiers sustain each other reciprocally

Evidence

By constantly challenging the relations of inclusion~clusion implied by the political constitution of ‘the people’ - required by the exercise of democracy - the liberal discourse of universal human rights plays an important role in maintaining the demo— cratic contestation alive. On the other side, it is only thanks to the democratic logics of equivalence that frontiers can be created and a demos established without which no real exercise of rights could be possible. — Chantal Mouffe, The Democratic Paradox, 54

Categorization

• XREF: Directly answers the reader’s core question: whether a ‘we’ requires a constitutive outside. This passage frames liberalism as the internal contestation of boundaries rather than their abolition. — connects to: Liberal democracy’s us-them frontier is internal and non-permanent — Chantal Mouffe, The Democratic Paradox, 257; Liberal rights discourse has historically justified rather than opposed empire — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 72; The abstract universality of rights discourse enables its expansion to excluded groups — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 228 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Democracy and liberalism can be decoupled and even opposed #contradicts (0.90) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 235
• The tension between liberal rights and democratic sovereignty is ineradicable yet negotiable, not fatal #qualifies (0.90) — Chantal Mouffe, The Democratic Paradox, 426
• Liberalism and democracy are only contingently articulated, not necessarily linked #contradicts (0.88) — Ernesto Laclau, On Populist Reason, 332
• Liberal rights discourse has historically justified rather than opposed empire #complicates (0.82) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 72
• Liberal democracies are simultaneously mechanisms of domination and empowerment #complicates (0.80) — Cristian Tileagă, The Nature of Prejudice, 47
• The abstract universality of rights discourse enables its expansion to excluded groups #expands (0.78) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 228
• Substantive democracy requires foregrounding difference and minority rights #expands (0.74) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 138