The future of democracy hangs in the balance, we're told. But as another most-important-election-ever draws near, many progressives are facing the fact that their values are not on the ballot. And while that's a new experience for some, for others on the Left it comes as little surprise. Anarchists and many socialists have long held that representative democracy is incapable of producing anything but capitalism at home and imperialism abroad. What then is our relationship to the ballot?

This conversation will explore the rich history of left wing voter abstention, critiques of voting as a democratic practice, the use of the ballot as a tool of colonialism, and the alternatives to voting and representative government.

Andrew Lee has supported grassroots social movements for over 15 years and is author of Defying Displacement: Urban Recomposition and Social War. His work has previously appeared in Yes! Magazine, The New Inquiry, Teen Vogue, and ROAR Magazine. On his new blog In Struggle, he recently published "Why to not vote. A free civic disengagement guide."

Andrew Zonneveld is an independent scholar from Atlanta, Georgia. He is the editor of The Commune: Paris, 1871 and To Remain Silent is Impossible: Emma Goldman & Alexander Berkman in Russia. With Nani Ferreira-Mathews, he co-edited Why Anarchists Don't Vote: Radical Criticisms of Representative Government.