This is the website of Branding Democracy, a thematic multi-disciplinary investigation that drives the 2008-09 public programming of the Vera List Center for Art and Politics at The New School.

In events, participants hailing from a variety of fields ranging from the visual and performing arts to law, the social sciences, and the media convene to discuss the design and packaging of the notion of democracy, and how it came to resemble a consumer brand.

A platform for many of these events, the exhibition OURS: Democracy in the Age of Branding was presented at Parsons The New School for Design from October 15, 2008 to February 1, 2009.

Call and Response, a forthcoming online program designed to bring together presenters, respondents and the public, explores the inquisitive moment when pronouncements are offered but conclusions are not yet drawn.

Founded in 1992 and named in honor of the late philanthropist, the Vera List Center for Art and Politics at The New School is dedicated to serving as a catalyst for the discourse on the role of the arts in society and their relationship to the sociopolitical climate in which they are created. It seeks to achieve this goal by organizing public programs that respond to the pressing social and political issues of our time as they are articulated by the academic community and by visual and performing artists. The center strives to further the university’s educational mission by bringing together scholars and students, the people of New York, and national and international audiences in an exploration of new possibilities for civic engagement.

Installation views of the exhibition OURS: Democracy in the Age of Branding.