Thanks for this insightful pondering. I wonder if centreing the right to genuinely participate (vs "democracy" specifically) and be heard can act as an anchor for well being and relationship in order to reduce the likelihood of problematic interpretations. I would be interested to hear your thoughts.
I think there is an increased likelihood of a right-base being a better anchor for well-being and relationships than a democratic-base, purely from what I have witnessed and noticed as I visit different settings, and hold workshops both here in Sweden and internationally.
It is quite obvious that there is a lack of full understanding of what "being democratic" actually means. I feel that for many places democracy ends up being about decision making and voting and quite often results in the majority deciding - and far too often fake choices being offered to provide the illusion of democracy from that perspective.
It might be one of the reasons why democracy fails so many people in the world, especially minorities - because their opinions and needs are unable to sway the decision making and the constantly get ignored, unanswered, and unmet. This happens all too easily within educational settings.
of course rights-based is problematic when people fail to remember that rights also come with responsibility - and the need for self-regulation, positive self limitation etc are necessary to ensure EVERYONE can access their rights and not only those who find themselves within the safety of the majority/norm. AND that rights based does not mean that as adults we are not allowed to use limits - because children are going to make mistakes, and they must be allowed to make mistakes, but as we currently live in a world that is not just, there is a lot of unlearning to do - and children pick up bias and prejudice from their homes that will be perpetuated if we do not intervene. And as adults we must be constantly unlearning, decolonising and working towards anti-bias within ourselves too.
But I do think that rights could be a better first step than democracy, because they are more easy to grasp, despite their complexity in how to put them into practice. And ultimately putting children/human rights into practice will lead us towards a more democratic way of being in the true sense of "people power" to take care of the people - ALL people (and the fact we have to ensure dehumanisation does not happen - because then rights and democracy will fail them).
I have coined a term "demomazi" which is "people together" because to be honest, I am quite sick of the word power, and the problems that this creates in practice.
If we focus on togetherness, rather than power then maybe we have a chance? Together with other humans and more than humans...
Thanks for this insightful pondering. I wonder if centreing the right to genuinely participate (vs "democracy" specifically) and be heard can act as an anchor for well being and relationship in order to reduce the likelihood of problematic interpretations. I would be interested to hear your thoughts.
I think there is an increased likelihood of a right-base being a better anchor for well-being and relationships than a democratic-base, purely from what I have witnessed and noticed as I visit different settings, and hold workshops both here in Sweden and internationally.
It is quite obvious that there is a lack of full understanding of what "being democratic" actually means. I feel that for many places democracy ends up being about decision making and voting and quite often results in the majority deciding - and far too often fake choices being offered to provide the illusion of democracy from that perspective.
It might be one of the reasons why democracy fails so many people in the world, especially minorities - because their opinions and needs are unable to sway the decision making and the constantly get ignored, unanswered, and unmet. This happens all too easily within educational settings.
of course rights-based is problematic when people fail to remember that rights also come with responsibility - and the need for self-regulation, positive self limitation etc are necessary to ensure EVERYONE can access their rights and not only those who find themselves within the safety of the majority/norm. AND that rights based does not mean that as adults we are not allowed to use limits - because children are going to make mistakes, and they must be allowed to make mistakes, but as we currently live in a world that is not just, there is a lot of unlearning to do - and children pick up bias and prejudice from their homes that will be perpetuated if we do not intervene. And as adults we must be constantly unlearning, decolonising and working towards anti-bias within ourselves too.
But I do think that rights could be a better first step than democracy, because they are more easy to grasp, despite their complexity in how to put them into practice. And ultimately putting children/human rights into practice will lead us towards a more democratic way of being in the true sense of "people power" to take care of the people - ALL people (and the fact we have to ensure dehumanisation does not happen - because then rights and democracy will fail them).
I have coined a term "demomazi" which is "people together" because to be honest, I am quite sick of the word power, and the problems that this creates in practice.
If we focus on togetherness, rather than power then maybe we have a chance? Together with other humans and more than humans...