Civic exercises

“Gazeta Wyborcza” and the Wyspa Art Institute in Gdańsk are commencing a series of debates devoted to the light and shade of democracy in Poland. We want to confront attitudes and to ask questions. “Civic exercises” should help us understand why we do not like what there is, but in such a way that we not only complain but also take responsibility for the common good which is the state. The virtue of citizenship is vital for the construction of a better state, one which is closer to the citizen. Democracy should unite people in the common public space. But when it is limited only to institutions, it creates the feeling in citizens of alienation in the face of the system and establishes its own mechanisms of exclusion. How can we cope with this? Is democracy for everyone, irrespective of the differences dividing people, today just a stale phrase or a betrayed ideal? Conflicts are the foundation of democracy. Today, however, they often degenerate into hostilities which tear apart the common social space into groups isolated from each other. Can there exist a “molecular” democracy without common norms, traditions, cultural references? Would this mean a society embroiled in the chaos of a domestic cold war in which democratic forms are simply an insignificant form?

Ściągnij skrót debaty opublikowany przez Gazetę Wyborczą / 15.12.2007
Gazeta Wyborcza
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