Takis Fotopoulos ( el, Τάκης Φωτόπουλος born 14 October 1940) is a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

political philosopher Political philosophy or political theory is the philosophical study of government, addressing questions about the nature, scope, and legitimacy of public agents and institutions and the relationships between them. Its topics include politics ...

, economist and writer who founded the Inclusive Democracy movement, aiming at a

synthesis Synthesis or synthesize may refer to: Science Chemistry and biochemistry * Chemical synthesis, the execution of chemical reactions to form a more complex molecule from chemical precursors **Organic synthesis, the chemical synthesis of organ ...

classical democracy Athenian democracy developed around the 6th century BC in the Greek city-state (known as a polis) of Athens, comprising the city of Athens and the surrounding territory of Attica. Although Athens is the most famous ancient Greek democratic cit ...

with

libertarian socialism Libertarian socialism, also known by various other names, is a left-wing,Diemer, Ulli (1997)"What Is Libertarian Socialism?" The Anarchist Library. Retrieved 4 August 2019. anti-authoritarian, anti-statist and libertarianLong, Roderick T. (2 ...

and the radical currents in the new social movements. He is an

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

, and has written many books and over 900 articles,. He is the editor of ''The International Journal of Inclusive Democracy'' (which succeeded ''

Democracy & Nature ''Democracy & Nature'' was a peer-reviewed academic journal of Politics established in 1992 by Takis Fotopoulos as ''Society and Nature'', obtaining its later name in 1995.

'') and is the author of ''Towards An Inclusive Democracy'' (1997) in which the foundations of the Inclusive Democracy project were set.Takis Fotopoulos bio
at Bloomsburry Publishing/Continuum's website. His latest book is ''The New World Order in Action: Volume 1: Globalization, the Brexit Revolution and the "Left"- Towards a Democratic Community of Sovereign Nations'' (December 2016). Fotopoulos is Greek and lives in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

.Takis Fotopoulos bio
at eipcp's (European Institute for Progressive Cultural Policies) website.

Early life

Fotopoulos was born on the Greek island of

Chios Chios (; el, Χίος, Chíos , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greek island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is notable for its exports of mast ...

and his family moved to

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...

soon afterwards. After graduating from the

University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; el, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών, ''Ethnikó ke Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the Univers ...

with degrees in

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics anal ...

and

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...

and in Law, he moved to London in 1966 for postgraduate study at the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 milli ...

on a Varvaressos scholarship from Athens University. He was a student

syndicalist Syndicalism is a revolutionary current within the left-wing of the labor movement that seeks to unionize workers according to industry and advance their demands through strikes with the eventual goal of gaining control over the means of pr ...

and activist in Athens and then a political activist in London, taking an active part in the 1968 student protests there, and in organisations of the revolutionary Greek Left during the struggle against the

Greek military junta of 1967–1974 The Greek junta or Regime of the Colonels, . Also known within Greece as just the Junta ( el, η Χούντα, i Choúnta, links=no, ), the Dictatorship ( el, η Δικτατορία, i Diktatoría, links=no, ) or the Seven Years ( el, η Ε ...

. During this period, he was a member of the Greek group called Revolutionary Socialist Groups in London, which published the newspaper ''Μαμή'' ("Midwife", from the Marxian dictum, "violence is the midwife of revolution") for which he wrote several articles. Fotopoulos married Sia Mamareli (a former lawyer) in 1966; the couple have a son, Costas (born in 1974), who is a Composer and Pianist.

Academia and afterwards

Fotopoulos was a Senior Lecturer in Economics at the Polytechnic of North London from 1969 to 1989, until he began editing the journal ''Society & Nature'', later ''

Democracy & Nature ''Democracy & Nature'' was a peer-reviewed academic journal of Politics established in 1992 by Takis Fotopoulos as ''Society and Nature'', obtaining its later name in 1995.

'' and subsequently the online ''International Journal of Inclusive Democracy''. He was also a columnist of ''

Eleftherotypia ''Eleftherotypia'' ( el, Ελευθεροτυπία, lit=freedom of the press) was a daily national newspaper published in Athens, Greece. Published since 21 July 1975, it was the first newspaper to appear after the fall of the Regime of the ...

'', the second-biggest newspaper in Greece.

Inclusive Democracy

Fotopoulos developed the political project of Inclusive Democracy (ID) in 1997 (an exposition can be found in ''Towards An Inclusive Democracy''). The first issue of ''Society & Nature'' declared that:

our ambition is to initiate an urgently needed dialogue on the crucial question of developing a new liberatory social project, at a moment in
History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
when the
Left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album '' Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right * ...
has abandoned this traditional role.

It specified that the new project should be seen as the outcome of a synthesis of the democratic, libertarian socialist and radical Green traditions. Since then, a dialogue has followed in the pages of the journal, in which supporters of the

autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one' ...

project like

Cornelius Castoriadis Cornelius Castoriadis ( el, Κορνήλιος Καστοριάδης; 11 March 1922 – 26 December 1997) was a Greek-FrenchMemos 2014, p. 18: "he was ... granted full French citizenship in 1970." philosopher, social critic, economist, ps ...

social ecology Social ecology may refer to: * Social ecology (academic field), the study of relationships between people and their environment, often the interdependence of people, collectives and institutions * Social ecology (Bookchin), a theory about the relat ...

supporters including its founder

Murray Bookchin Murray Bookchin (January 14, 1921 – July 30, 2006) was an American social theorist, author, orator, historian, and political philosopher. A pioneer in the environmental movement, Bookchin formulated and developed the theory of social ...

, and Green activists and academics like

Steven Best Steven Best (born December 1955) is an American philosopher, writer, speaker and activist. His concerns include animal rights, species extinction, human overpopulation, ecological crisis, biotechnology, liberation politics, terrorism, mass media ...

have taken part. The starting point for Fotopoulos' work is that the world faces a multi-dimensional crisis (economic, ecological, social, cultural and political) which is caused by the concentration of power in elites, as a result of the market economy, representative democracy and related forms of hierarchical structure. An inclusive democracy, which involves the equal distribution of power at all levels, is seen not as a utopia (in the negative sense of the word) or a "vision" but as perhaps the only way out of the present crisis, with trends towards its creation manifesting themselves today in many parts of the world. Fotopoulos is in favor of market abolitionism, although he would not identify himself as a market abolitionist as such because he considers market abolition as one aspect of an inclusive democracy which refers only to the

economic democracy Economic democracy is a socioeconomic philosophy that proposes to shift decision-making power from corporate managers and corporate shareholders to a larger group of public stakeholders that includes workers, customers, suppliers, neighbou ...

component of it. He maintains that "modern hierarchical society," which for him includes both the

capitalist Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, private ...

market economy and "

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

" statism, is highly oriented toward economic growth, which has glaring environmental contradictions. Fotopoulos proposes a model of economic democracy for a stateless, marketless and moneyless economy but he considers that the economic democracy component is equally significant to the other components of ID, i.e. political or

direct democracy Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the electorate decides on policy initiatives without elected representatives as proxies. This differs from the majority of currently established democracies, which are repres ...

, economic democracy, ecological democracy and democracy in the social realm. Fotopoulos' work has been critically assessed by important activists, theorists and scholars.

Selected bibliography

Original English

*
Towards An Inclusive Democracy. The Crisis of the Growth Economy and the Need for a New Liberatory Project
' (London/New York: Cassell Continuum, 1997), 401 pp. and 0-304-33628-9. * ''Education, Culture and Modernization'', ed. by Peter Alheit et al. (Roskide University, 1995). (Takis Fotopoulos contribution

. * ''Defending Public Schools'', ed. by David A. Gabbard & E. Wayne Ross (Praeger, 2004). (Takis Fotopoulos contribution

. * ''Critical Perspectives on Globalisation'', ed. by Robert Hunter Wade, Marina Della Giusta and Uma Kambhampati (Chelthenham, UK & Northampton, MA US: Edward Elgar publishing, 2006). (Takis Fotopoulos contribution

.
''Eco-socialism as Politics: Rebuilding the Basis of Our Modern Civilisation''
ed. by Qingzhi Huan (Springer, 1st Edition, 2010, XI), 224 p., Hardcover, . (Takis Fotopoulos contribution: "The De-growth Utopia: The Incompatibility of De-growth within an Internationalised Market Economy").

ed. by A.J.Nocella, Steven Best, Peter McLaren (AK Press, Oakland, CA & Edinburgh, 2010), 590 p, paperback, . (Takis Fotopoulos contribution: "Systemic Aspects of Academic Repression in the New World Order".

of this essay is published in ''The International Journal of Inclusive Democracy'', Vol. 4, No. 4 (October 2008).
''Critical Pedagogy in the new dark ages: challenges and possibilities''
ed by Maria Nikolakaki (Peter Lang Publishing, 2012), . (Takis Fotopoulos contribution: "From (mis)education to Paedeia," pp. 81–119.)
''Karl Marx, The Communist Manifesto''
ed by Frederic L. Bender (second revised edition; New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 2013), . (Takis Fotopoulos & A. Gezerlis contribution: "Hardt & Negri's Empire: A new Communist Manifesto or a reformist Welcome to Neoliberal Globalization?," (extract), pp. 232–34.)
''The New World Order in Action. Vol. 1: Globalization, the Brexit Revolution and the 'Left - Towards a Democratic Community of Sovereign Nations
(San Diego, Cal., US: Progressive Press, 2016). .

Selected translations of works by Fotopoulos

* ''Complessità sistemica e svillupo eco-sostenibile'', ed. by I. Spano and D. Padovan (Sapere 2001). (Takis Fotopoulos contribution

) * '' ttp://www.inclusivedemocracy.org/fotopoulos/other_languages/ital/italtid.htm Per Una Democrazia Globale' (Milano: Eleuthera, 1999), 254 pp. *
Hacia Una Democracia Inclusiva: Un nuevo proyecto liberador
' (Montevideo
Nordan
2002), 325 pp. *

' (Paris: Seuil, 2002), 250 pp. *

', Die Antwort auf die Krise der Wachstums-und Marktwirtschaft (Grafenau: Trotzdem Verlag, 2003), 445 pp. *

(Entire English

E-book An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. A ...

publication 005of the book with the same title published in Athens, 2005 by Gordios, 334 pp. . Published in
Chinese
(Shandong University Press, 2008). ) * ''Critical Pedagogy in the New Middle Age'', ed. by Maria Nikolakaki (Sideris, October 2011), . (Takis Fotopoulos' Contribution: "From Education to Paedeia".)

Original Greek

*''Studies on the contemporary Greek Economy'', ed. by S.Papaspiliopoulos (Athens: Papazisis, 1978). (Takis Fotopoulos' contribution: "Dependent development and industrialisation").

(Athens: Exantas, 1985 & 1987), .

(Athens: Exantas, 1991), .

(Athens: Gordios, 1993).

(Athens: Kastaniotis, 1997). *

' (Athens: Kastaniotis, 1999).

(Athens: Eleftheros Typos, 1999). * ttp://www.inclusivedemocracy.org/fotopoulos/greek/grbooksbalkans/grbooksbalkans.htm ''The New Order in the Balkans and the First War of the Internationalised Market Economy''(Athens: Staxy, 1999).
''Religion, Autonomy and Democracy''
(Athens: Eleftheros Typos, 2000).

(Athens: Ellinika Grammata, 2002).

(Athens: Eleftheros Typos, 2002).

(Athens: Gordios, 2003), .

(Athens: Gordios, 2004). *''Globalisation, Technology and Paideia in the New Cosmopolis'' (Atrapos, 2004). (Takis Fotopoulos' contribution

. * ttp://www.inclusivedemocracy.org/fotopoulos/greek/grbookPD/grbookPD.htm ''The Multidimensional Crisis and Inclusive Democracy''(Athens: Gordios, 2005). *
Inclusive Democracy: 10 Years Afterwards
'
''Περιεκτική Δημοκρατία: 10 Χρόνια Μετά''
(Athens: Eleftheros Typos, 2008), 591 pp.

ed. by

(Athens: Koukkida, 2008), . And as Special Issue of "The International Journal of Inclusive Democracy", Winter 2009, in English
Online/PDF
(with two contributions by Takis Fotopoulos

& ttp://www.inclusivedemocracy.org/fotopoulos/english/brbooks/Is_Inclusive_Democracy_Feasible_and_Desirable.htm "Is Inclusive Democracy Feasible and Desirable?". *
Global Crisis, Greece, and the anti-systemic movement
' (Athens: Koukida, 2009), 318 pages, . *

' (Athens: Gordios, November 2010), 412 pages, . *

' ( ttp://www.biblionet.gr/book/204334/Φωτόπουλος_Τάκης/Το_χρονικό_της_καταστροφής_2010-2015 ''Το χρονικό της καταστροφής 2010-2015'' (Athens: Gordios, September 2015), 470 pages, .

References

External links

Overviews
"Inclusive Democracy" entry in the ''Routledge Encyclopedia of International Political Economy''
(ed. by Barry Jones), Vol. 2 (2001), pp. 732–740.
Takis Fotopoulos' Archive
Selected interviews * . Takis Fotopoulos' Interview about Inclusive Democracy". Interview taken by Oliver Ressler for his video serie
''Alternative Economics, Alternative Societies (2003-2008)''
(July 19, 2003). Retrieved 21 April 2014.
Inclusive Democracy - A transcript of the video interview
given by Takis Fotopoulos to Oliver Ressler for the projec
''Alternative Economics, Alternative Societies (2003-2008)''
(Recorded in London, 2003). Retrieved 9 October 2015. *Interview with Galina Tichinskaya for Pravda.ru: and transcript

(26 February 2015).
"On the rise of Neoliberalism: An Interview with Takis Fotopoulos"
(8 May 2009). Retrieved 21 April 2014. *Interview fo
''Equal Time for Freethought''
radio show, [original aired as Show 247: Takis Fotopoulos, 30 December 2007; later due to its poor audio quality replaced and rename
Show 289: 1-Hour Special: A Prescription for Real Social Change
]
WBAI radio
99.5 FM, New York City, USA)
audio (1:00:48 min)
Selected talks
"Inclusive Democracy as a political project for a new libertarian synthesis: rationale, proposed social structure and transition"
talk given by Takis Fotopoulos at the CNT centenary conference on self-management (Barcelona, 10 April 2010). Retrieved 21 April 2014. * Takis Fotopoulos talk on the Multidimensional Crisis and Inclusive Democracy ( Exeter College,

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, 12 November 2008). Video in 3 parts
Part 1 (talk)

part 2 (talk/discussion)part 3 (discussion)
Retrieved 21 April 2014. * A talk given by Takis Fotopoulos about the Internationalization of the Capitalist Market Economy and the project of Inclusive Democracy (

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a public land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is among the oldest universities in the Unite ...

(US), 19 April 1996), followed by a discussion with

, Dan Chodorkoff and others. Video in 3 parts
Part 1Part 2Part 3
Retrieved 21 April 2014. {{DEFAULTSORT:Fotopoulos, Takis 1940 births 20th-century Greek philosophers 21st-century Greek philosophers Academics of the University of North London Alumni of the London School of Economics Anti-globalization writers Greek anti-capitalists 20th-century Greek economists Greek male writers Greek political writers Greek socialists Libertarian socialists Living people National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni Writers from Athens Writers from Chios Philosophers of economics Philosophers of education Philosophers of history Philosophers of law Philosophers of technology Philosophers of war Political philosophers Greek social commentators Social philosophers Theorists on Western civilization Writers about activism and social change Writers about direct democracy Male non-fiction writers