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This course examines how a political discourse of deviancy, which produces a suspicion and a demonization of the Other, has legitimized the subsequent marginalization of specific groups from the democratic sphere. How has democracy, which promises a universal inclusivity of all its citizens, justified the historical and ongoing exclusion of certain marginalized groups from participating in political life? In this course, we will gain deeper insight into the logics of “demon-making” by turning to Black, feminist and queer critiques of democracy’s core tenets, particularly the values of inclusion, representation, and diversity. We will pay special attention to these scholars’ critiques of the Rational Man, conceived by Enlightenment thinkers to be the ideal subject of political life.