What’s next? – PART 4 Public space
I have in my email a quote from a philosopher and political theorist Hannah Arendt "The central political activity is action.” While means of the political action vary, actions need a public space to influence and shape the world. Space is part of the action and action shapes the space. Be it a speech, story, article, dialogue, debate, performance or demonstration; as important as the action itself, is the context of this action, a public space.
It is perhaps an understatement that our democracy is suffering within the existing public space. Our public spaces are narrow and competitive. There are simply not enough opportunities for a healthy engagement that encourages diversity and creativity. A political debate is often grounded on rivalry and belittlement. A political space becomes a battleground of big egos, rather than a debate on the real alternatives and reasons behind our decisions.
Therefore, I am evermore grateful to people like Uffe Elbaek, who can break the norm, and create an alternative space for healthy political action. We need parties and political platforms, spaces like the Alternativet, and its many branches, to realise what a future of politics could be. Not exercising democracy only through an elected representative but as the form of human social life.
When citizens’ laboratories, assemblies and other forms of engagement create a public space for a vigorous political debate and collaborative action, across the traditional party lines, people realise that they, as citizens of the planet earth, have a right and responsibility to care for the public good. It is a public space that can bring out our unlimited capacity and recognise that we need everyone, yes everyone, to contribute to the future building.
Photo by Phil Hearing on Unsplash
