Follett Talks
Follett Talks are Zoom-based meetings featuring a guest speaker presentation, a Q&A opportunity, and an open discussion time. They are typically scheduled for Saturday (US time) and will be open to anyone to join. Talks with usually be recorded as well, and recordings will be available on this site. Unless otherwise indicated, all Talks will be from 11 AM-1 PM EST / 4 PM-6 PM GMT.
Upcoming Talks
If you’re interested in joining an upcoming Follett Talk, or if you would like to propose a Talk, please contact info@follettfdn.org for the invitation and link.
February 21, 2026: Persuasion, Integration, and Deliberative Democracy: The Will of the Whole. Dr. Graham Wright, Associate Research Professor at the Heller School for Social Policy, Brandeis University,
Summary: It is easy to be in favor of a government that reflects the will of people you like. It is more difficult to be in favor of a government that reflects the will of people you hate. But this is precisely what democracy requires of us. And one of the most serious threats facing democracy today, in the United States and around the world, is the discomfort that many citizens feel toward this core democratic principle: that even those citizens we think of as evil, deluded, or simply wrong should still be allowed a say in what their own government does.
Perhaps the best hope of resolving this tension can be found in the idea of deliberative democracy, which sees a particular form of non-coercive dialogue as an essential component of democratic governance. But I argue that the traditional approach to deliberation through persuasion faces serious challenges that may limit its potential in exactly the situations where the threats to democracy are greatest.
In The New State Mary Parker Follett outlined a conception of democratic governance based on public dialogue that anticipated many of the ideas that would be later developed into deliberative democracy. But for Follett, the dialectical activity that grounds democratic legitimacy is not based on persuasion (as it is for modern deliberative democrats) but her own conception of integration. And I argue that a conception of deliberative democracy building on integrative dialogue, and Follett’s other ideas about co-creation and conflict resolution, can address some of the biggest challenges facing deliberative democracy, and therefore has the potential to respond to the crisis of democracy we are seeing in the United States and around the world.
Past Follett Talks and Recordings
November 8, 2025: Democracy is a Verb, not a Noun. Matthew Shapiro, founding director, the Mary Parker Follett Foundation. The presentation includes a review of Follett’s essential insights for the promise of democracy and a description of the mission and program of the Mary Parker Follett Foundation. The presentation is available here. Full recording and passcode below:
Passcode: UxTcDS5&
November 22: Erika Clegg presented on Power With, not Power Over. The presentation shows how how Follett’s ideas find fresh life in modern organizations, building trust, resilience, and performance. Full recording and passcode below:
Passcode: 7k4Sw!7J
December 6: Jim Rough presented on the Wise Democracy Project. The presentation proposes that Wisdom Councils and the Wise Democracy project could help bring to realization Follett’s vision for democracy. Full recording and passcode below:
Passcode: v@aTN36#
January 10: Matthew Shapiro presented on Learning to Create Together: A Participatory Approach to Designing the Civics Education We Need. Learning to Create Together is about engaging communities in the participatory design of civics for their schools, resulting in a civics education experience that transcends the static and in direct civics learning for the community that undertakes the design journey. The presentation is available here.
January 24: Elisabeth Sechser presented The Power of Words – Mary Follett’s Words & Principles. This Follett Talk focused on Mary Parker Follett’s understanding of the power of word, particularly her use of key concepts such as power, control, authority, leadership, and management. Follett did not describe democratic principles in abstract terms — she built them directly into language. Full recording and passcode below:
Passcode: uQ68vQ!R
The Mary Parker Follett Conversation on Creative Democracy (Fall 2026)
See the Conference page for more information.