Indocile democracy: Ortega y Gasset, liberalism and the humiliation of the masses

José Ortega y Gasset's The Revolt of the Masses (1930) remains an influential synthesis of liberal anxieties towards mass democracy. But the nature of Ortega's answer to the 'revolt of the masses' continues to be controversial. This article contends that Ortega suggested a resolution to mass revolt that focused on collective humiliation. Specifically, he believed Europe's 'masses' needed to take power to appreciate their unsuitability for rule. Only this humiliating experience, he thought, could convince the masses to accept a liberal form of democracy. Contextualizing The Revolt of the Masses within Ortega's political and social thought, the article recovers his vision for cultivating liberal democracy through the humiliation of the masses and considers its larger political ramifications.

Indocile democracy: Ortega y Gasset, liberalism and the humiliation of the masses Articles