Drawing on a detailed case study of the Blackbird Leys area of Oxford, the book employs a novel empirical approach to ask whether widespread participation in civic life can enhance the prospects for democracy, given the low levels of participation which tend to exist in deprived areas.

By applying a philosophical approach to diagnosing the EU crisis, the book reconsiders the basic concepts of democracy in the context of the complex reality of the EU and the globalised world where profound social and political changes are taking place.

By outlining the divergent and discontinuous relationship between democracy and anarchy - within the history of anarchist thought - the author adds to democratic theory `The Impossible Argument': a compound anarchist critique of radical democracy.

This book is the first comprehensive analysis of the instrumental value of democracy in a comparative perspective. The author also raises critical questions about the value of the study of democracy: the choice for particular concepts and measures, the unknown mechanisms, and the narrow focus on specific instrumental values.

Drawing upon a wide range of methodological approaches in contemporary political and social theory, it explores how the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis represents the opening of possibilities for resistance and examines the structural hurdles facing radical politics in effectively challenging neoliberalism.