THE CONCEPTUALIZATION OF INDIVIDUALS (COLLECTIVES) IN DEMOCRATIC RESEARCH

What is the role of individuals (collectives) in democratic research? Are they viewed as the creators of concepts, or are they merely the subjects of scientific observation? Do they serve as agents of change, or are they passive actors influenced by societal processes? In this paper, I investigate how individuals (collectives) that engage in democratic practices are represented in democratic research. My focus is on scholarship produced by proponents of deliberative, participatory, and radical democracy, where individuals (collectives) are expected to play a significant role as active interpreters and participants in the democratic process. This study aims to explore how the agency of individuals (collectives) is constructed and whether this constrains our understanding of their roles in democracy and democratic research. The foundational assumption of this study is that the agency of individuals (collectives) in democratic research is often limited by a rigid division between researcher and research subject, scholar and layperson, empirical and theoretical research, fact and value, and social and political dimensions. This perspective may limit our ability to explore innovative ways of conducting research while also engaging individuals (collectives) in collaboratively co-producing the meanings and definitions of democracy alongside scholars. In this work, I will additionally consider the difference in perception between individuals and collectives. While this study focuses on a specific subset of scholarship, its critical analysis enriches the discussion regarding the validity of academic definitions, particularly those pertaining to democracy and the various paradigms of democratic research. Moreover, this examination continues as part of a broader inquiry into the use of specific dualistic distinctions, such as individual/collective, social/political, and unity/plurality, within democratic theory and related disciplines.