Civility and Participatory Democracy

Book Club: Civility and Participatory Democracy: The Importance of Civil Society and Active Citizenship

9 December 2021
14:00 GMT / 15:00 CET / 9:00 New York Check your time zone

Open to the public.
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Featuring the author Thomas P. Boje, Professor of Sociology, Department of Social Sciences and Business, Roskilde University, Denmark in conversation with Armine Ishkanian, Associate Professor, Department of Social Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, and Executive Director of the Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity programme at the International Inequalities Institute.

The aim of the book is to discuss the importance of civil society and citizenship in building a sustainable and participatory democracy. The book revolves around three key concepts – civil society, citizenship and activism.

• civil society, or more broadly speaking, organizations and social networks in the civic part of the public sphere. What role does the civil society organizations have in promoting civility, dialogue and deliberative democracy?
• citizenship as practiced qua people’s rights and duties in relation to other citizens, the local community and society as a whole. Under what conditions do the act of citizenship determine who is in and out of the social, political and cultural community?
• activism or participation in different forms of democratic decision-making processes related to the community and its institutions. What determines the conditions for the different forms of participation? How to ensure equal conditions for citizens’ participation?

This thought-provoking book conceptualizes the importance of civil society and citizenship in building a sustainable and participatory democracy. It considers the ways in which networks and organizations promoting common interests contribute to this mediating space between the public and private spheres, examining the impacts of the diversity of values and attitudes held by these organizations. Taking a normative position, Thomas P. Boje argues for the importance of social justice and civility in an active, liberating, equitable and participatory society. This book concludes with a detailed discussion of the conditions required for a participatory democratic system in which all citizens are involved in the planning, decision-making and implementation of crucial decisions. Link to publisher site