New Models Of Participatory And Direct Democracy

A revised version of this paper is now published in:

Woodin, T. (2014) Co-operation, Learning and Co-operative Values.  Contemporary Issues in Education.  Routledge.

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"Education involves drawing out the powers of individuals to think, imagine, feel and act. In particular it is about the development of the powers of communication, debate, decision and the power to form associations between people to create organisations for the achievement of common projects. How those powers to organise are shaped through social, cultural, economic, political and legal processes, practices and procedures is critical to what kind of society results. In this sense, then, education directly addresses the question of what kind of society people want.

We explore the contribution of cooperative ideas and practices to achieve such an idea."

La crise de confiance actuelle à l’égard du monde politique met presque tout le monde d’accord : il faut un électrochoc dans la manière dont fonctionne notre démocratie. Reste cependant à trouver un modèle participatif adéquat et plausible dans le contexte belge. Un bref retour sur une expérience récente de démocratie locale à Louvain-la-Neuve, à l’élaboration de laquelle les auteur.e.s de ce texte ont participé, offre des perspectives pour repenser la place de la population dans la sphère publique de notre pays et au-delà. Avec un mot d’ordre : remettre les citoyens et les citoyennes au centre de la politique.

" Creativity isn't the monopoly of artists. This is the crucial fact I've come to realize, and this broader concept of creativity is my concept of art. When I say everybody is an artist, I mean everybody can determine the content of life in his particular sphere, whether in painting, music, engineering, caring for the sick, the economy or whatever. " – Joseph Beuys, in an interview with Frans Hak, 1979, (Beck 2004, p.7) In 2012, we, Lott Alfreds and Charlotte Åberg, co-founded the artistic collective ArtAgent based in Stockholm, Sweden, focusing on participatory and situation-specific art. Through art practices in the public realm, we aim to develop an increased awareness of the potential and capacity of art to impact society and we have created artistic projects at various locations such as neighbourhoods, schools, social institutions, workplaces, public squares and art institutions, both in Sweden and internationally. The works include different international contexts such as social sculpture, (Beuys, Harlan 2004) participatory art, (Milevska 2006) and situation specific and new genre public art. (Lacy 1994) In addition to these concepts we have used a stream of questions and experiments undertaken by thinkers and art practitioners that have influenced the condition of local communities in a global change. Referring to Arjun Appadurais belief, we now live in globally imagined worlds and not simply in locally imagined communities. We also live in a world in which deterritorialisation, the breaking-down of existing territorial connections affect us on a daily basis as well as a parallel vision were we are moving towards a more comprehensive and internationally including approach. (Appadurai 2000) In this shift we see the enhanced possibility of sharing thoughts, feelings and imagination through art. One strength that we possess as artists is that we continuously work with the unspoken, with tacit knowledge that cannot be easily described with words and therefore needs other means in order to be expressed. (Harry Collins 2010). To allow for also imaginary worlds to take part for example in the often dull and repetitive actions at a workplace, we create a possibility of exchange based on thoughts. As artists we have a long experience to work collaboratively with communities by engaging them in artistic actions aiming towards social change. We wish to contribute to this section on methodological reshaping and spatial transgression in glocalised social work by introducing strategies that we have been using in our artistic practice with marginalized communities in Albania, Macedonia, Croatia and Sweden. In particular we wish to describe the interplay between practice and theory in our projects, to discuss theory by way of practice, and in so doing highlight how artistic practice embodies and modifies theory. This will be demonstrated by bringing to attention different situations and conditions for art projects in Sweden and in the Western Balkans. We will begin by introducing a theoretical framework to our methodology building on Joseph Beuys ideas of social sculpture (Sacks 2016) and Grant Kester's notions of the potentiality of conversations in art practices. (ed. Kucor, Leung 2004) We then present examples of our interpretation of what a " social sculpture " can be as the basis of our artistic and social practice. We have heterogeneous artistic backgrounds as visual artists working with sculpture, graphic art, textile design, video and photography. <FIGURE 10.1 HERE> The figure attempts to describe in a simple form the journey that both the artists and participants can take. The timescale can vary from days to months and the creative inputs and outcomes are hugely variable. What we have tried to make clear is that process and product are entangled and must be understood as a whole. While a final presentation or event must be artistically credible it is also informed by the process that created it. (Dix, Gregory 2010). Graphics: Lott Alfreds 2014

Resumen Desde la tercera ola de expansión de la democracia, iniciada en la década del setenta, ha ganado peso una opinión a favor de ampliar la democracia representativa incorporando a los ciudadanos a la definición de los asuntos públicos. Con esta intención, en América Latina son numerosos los mecanismos que se han introducido a nivel local y nacional (presupuestos participativos, consejos vecinales y referendos, entre otros). Entre estos instrumentos, la Iniciativa Legislativa Popular (ILP) es uno de los que menor atención ha recibido por parte de la academia, pese a que, en teoría, podría reforzar la conexión entre representados y representantes empoderando a los primeros sin socavar el poder de los segundos. La ILP representa una oportunidad tanto para los ciudadanos, a los que permitiría expresar institucionalmente sus demandas, como para los parlamentarios, a los que permitiría conocer mejor las preferencias ciudadanas y actuar en consecuencia, incrementando su alicaído prestigio. Sin embargo, el mecanismo no parece haber tenido éxito más allá de experiencias puntuales. Este estudio explora las razones que podrían explicar esta evidencia analizando el funcionamiento de la ILP a nivel nacional en el caso colombiano.

Back cover text: Real Social Science presents a new, hands-on approach to social inquiry. The theoretical and methodological ideas behind the book, inspired by Aristotelian phronesis, represent an original perspective within the social sciences, and this volume gives readers for the first time a set of studies exemplifying what applied phronesis looks like in practice. The reflexive analysis of values and power gives new meaning to the impact of research on policy and practice. Real Social Science is a major step forward in a novel and thriving field of research. This book will benefit scholars, researchers, and students who want to make a difference in practice, not just in the academy. Its message will make it essential reading for students and academics across the social sciences.

Through a case study of development policy making in the eThekwini metro (Durban), South Africa, this paper explores the emergence of new forms of local democracy in post-apartheid South Africa. After a review of the process surrounding the preparation of the Long-term Development Framework and the Integrated Development Plan in the city from the late 1990s through to 2003, the paper outlines the nature of community participation in the creation of these plans. We note the relationship between processes of formal elected representation and strong community participation in the preparation of the Long-term Development Framework. The initially extensive participatory process to some extent evolved into a routinised series of local meetings in each ward where community involvement was better characterised as consultative rather than participatory. The complexities and power relationships internal to participatory or consultative practices are placed alongside the way in which ‘participation’ competes with other forms of representation. Elected representatives were very important for setting the tone and direction for development policy in the city, although some perceived community meetings as threatening to their legitimacy or role. Unelected representatives such as traditional authorities were also relevant in this context. The final section turns to more informal but no less important influences on development policy in the city. In particular, major business actors have had a direct influence on large capital projects within the city. Furthermore, politicians at a provincial and national level participate in many decisions relating to the city through party networks. Officials and council departments played a significant role in determining the policy documents and visions for the future of the city. We conclude that a range of forms of democratic government all played a role in shaping development policy: participatory, electoral, party mechanisms, bureaucratic institutions of government, and informal influence. While all these co-existing aspects of democracy instantiate fields of power relations, the evidence from Durban suggests that local democracy is being forged in distinctive and vibrant ways in post-apartheid South Africa, even if these are necessarily embedded in emergent systems of power relations which frame and limit opportunities for redistributive and developmental outcomes.

Los estudios que se presentan en esta obra son una selección de las ponencias presentadas en la Primera Conferencia Internacional sobre Democracia Directa en América Latina (Buenos Aires, 14 y 15 de marzo de 2007), organizada por el Center for Research on Direct Democracy, la Universidad de San Martín (UNSAM) y el Instituto para la Democracia y la Asistencia Electoral (IDEA Internacional).
Los capítulos de la obra tratan sobre un tema de renovado interés en América Latina, el uso de mecanismos de democracia directa, y en particular el referéndum y la iniciativa ciudadana. También exploran y analizan las nuevas formas de participación y control con las que cuenta la ciudadanía, impulsadas por los procesos de descentralización y por la difusión de las nuevas tecnologías de la información. Lejos de una mirada simplista, apocalíptica o utópica, los trabajos muestran la complejidad de un proceso en marcha, cuyo análisis es indispensable para comprender y actuar en función del fortalecimiento de la democracia latinoamericana.