Education, spheres of participation and citizenship

Abstract

INTRODUCTION. We live in a politically complex and contradictory world. On the one hand, democracy and its institutions are being questioned for failing to reverse situations of profound inequality, injustice, corruption, and segregation. On the other hand, however, we are witnessing the emergence of multiple forms and expressions of participation, which account that interest in politics is still intact in broad sectors of society, albeit reconverted and rede-
fined. At the same time, as political parties are being eroded and the large institutions weakened, the spheres, protagonists, and repertoires for political expression are multiplying and diversifying. These transformations in the spaces, actors and practices of participation inaugurate new forms, relations and meanings of citizenship. METHOD. Different strands of analysis related to the questioning of democracy are presented, along with the arguments that support the defence of the classical ideal of full citizen participation in all instances of political deliberation and decision-making has been strengthened by the widespread perception that today’s liberal democracy is no longer sufficient to make this possible. RESULTS. Within this framework, the so-called alternative citizenships are identified as driving forces in the construction of a new political culture, new institutional dynamics, and new processes of appropriation of the public sphere, which oblige pedagogy to propose the need for new learnings, updating and renewing the close link between participation and citizenship. DISCUSSION.
We are committed to a transition towards radical democracy and participation, and hereby introduce the different articles in the monograph that seek to advance in this line.