Astra Taylor’s documentary film “What is Democracy?” is a meditation on the idea of rule by the many, not the few. Where did this idea come from, how close are we to realizing it today, and what are the primary obstacles we encounter as we attempt to build a free and egalitarian society?

Taylor’s film takes up these complex questions, interweaving observations from well-known intellectuals like Cornel West, Silvia Federici, and Wendy Brown with the perspectives of ordinary people, including high school students, activists, cooperative workers, formerly incarcerated people, and refugees. The film avoids overt prescriptions, but gestures toward solidarity and class struggle as a means of building democracy in the real world.

Taylor has a companion book called “Democracy May Not Exist, but We’ll Miss It When It’s Gone,” which will be released in May 2019. Her film hits select theaters this month. Jacobin staff writer Meagan Day spoke with Taylor about democracy and tyranny, filmmaking and organizing, and capitalism and socialism.