This collection of essays on democracy in performance is timely. It comes at a time when the very basis of the notion of democracy has been evacuated of its original premise on the will of the individual by many political systems and transnational enterprises. In twenty-first century political theory and world politics in practice, democracy has become both an excuse for and an aim of a neo-liberal agenda for the free flow of global capital. Nations act as businesses in competition with one another and those who refuse to compete in that market are subject to enforcement. The enforcement of democracy through invasion, the dismantling and the reorganization of political systems and economies, ensures that a notion of ‘democracy’ obtains for the perpetuation of that global capital. Democracy in our age, though predicated on the agency of the individual, actually means the subjection of the individual to the simulation of democracy. ‘Pure’ democracy is reformulated into an ‘organized’ one and on the world stage that transforms into a project of universalism. That universalism was once the project of empire, and is now the project of global capitalism. Democracy, thus, could be said to be the greatest of contemporary political performances.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ravi Chaturvedi
Ravi Chaturvedi educated at the University of Delhi before moving on to the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences and finally to Canada, University of Windsor, Ontario. Cricket remained his passion. He played college level cricket but his love for the game drew him to cricket commentary. He got a break in 1962 as a commentator for the All India Radio and has not looked back since. He covered the Indian tour of the West Indies in 1976 where Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation roped him in as a guest commentator and became an expert on Caribbean cricket. His first book – West Indies – India Test Cricket was on the same subject. He covered the tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1980-81 for AIR, also appearing on New Zealand TV as a guest commentator. His stature and range continued to grow. In 1994, world Tel took him on its panel of international commentators along with some of the stars, sir Gary Sobers, “Tiger’ Pataudi, Glenn Turner, Kapil Dev, K. Srikkanth, Ravi Shastri and well-known Henry Blofeld. He was on the Star Sports in 1996 for cricket in Singapore, Sharjah, West Indies and England. TWI commentary team for the India-New Zealand series in 1999 was his next assignment. He covered the 2003 ICC World Cup for the Nimbus World Sports. Today, he is the senior most cricket commentator in the Indian subcontinent, covering more than 105 Tests and 152 one-day internationals. He is regarded the best Hindi commentator with an insight in the nuances of the game. He readily recalls incidents and punctuates his commentary with relevant episodes and witty remarks, making him a commentator of class.
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