Plurality: The Future of Collaborative Technology and Democracy

Digital technology threatens to tear apart free and open societies through polarization, inequality, loneliness, and rights abuses. But on a delicate, diverse, and politically divided East Asian island, things seem different. In the decade since the weeks-long occupation of Taiwan’s parliament, this island of resilience achieved inclusive, technology-fueled growth, overcame the pandemic without lockdowns and the infodemic without takedowns, and entrusted the people to tackle shared challenges like environmental protection while capitalizing on a culture of innovation to “hack the government.” 

Audrey Tang and Glen Weyl are interviewed by Frederike Kaltheuner to discuss the framework that they developed as part of their book "Plurality: The Future of Collaborative Technology and Democracy". 

Plurality is an approach to using digital tools that is attempting to channel the energy of social diversity into progress instead of conflict and shared growth instead of widening inequality. It’s a framework that aims to enable collaboration across social differences, for example by empowering large numbers of people to express meaningful views on a complex issue and reach consensus rather than splitting into factions. The goal is to offer tools to radically enrich society while leaving no one behind.