Public Agenda, the nonpartisan public opinion and citizen engagement organization, today announced the release of a new book by Senior Public Engagement Research Associate Dr. Alison Kadlec. Dewey's Critical Pragmatism is a cogent examination of philosopher and political theorist John Dewey's writings on pragmatism and is a rallying cry for soundly-constructed public engagement programs that fulfill Dewey's vision of democracy as a way of life.

Dewey's Critical Pragmatism (Lexington Books) takes on not only elitists who think the people are congenitally unfit for effective deliberation, but also the radical democratic theorists who criticize public engagement practitioners as being blind to or ill-prepared to combat the existing power relationships that, they say, are reinforced in public engagement processes. These power-oriented critics simultaneously do not enough and too much when it comes to assessing the meaning of and conditions for genuine deliberation, Kadlec asserts. On one hand they operate with an unnecessarily cramped notion of deliberation, and on the other they rely on a counterproductively totalizing and static view of power.

Harry Boyte of the Center for Democracy and Citizenship calls the book a splendid work and that Kadlec establishes herself at the front ranks of both Dewey scholars and deliberative democrats. William Caspary of the New York University Gallatin School says, Kadlec has done a great service by bridging the gaps between critical theory, pragmatism and deliberative democracy...Linking practice together with theory, quality scholarship with political experience, she offers new design principles for deliberative forums. Everyone seeking to understand democratic ideas and practices should read this book. It is a major achievement.

The book is available for purchase directly from the publisher, Lexington Books, a division of Rowman and Littlefield Publishers. The hardcover book's pricing is set for distribution to libraries, so readers with interest in the book but who have concern about the price are encouraged to urge their local library to make the purchase. A less expensive paperback version of the book is anticipated for release later this year.

More information on the book and excerpts are available at: http://www.publicagenda.org/articles/deweys-critical-pragmatism

Kadlec is the Associate Director of the Center for Advances in Public Engagement at Public Agenda. CAPE promotes innovation and effectiveness in the growing deliberative democracy movement. The Center works to create new and better ways for citizens to confront and talk about pressing public problems and for communities to overcome the gridlock and divisiveness that often blocks progress.