Democracy is often reduced to the act of voting: electing representatives to speak on behalf of the people and waiting until the next election cycle to make our voices heard again. However, democracy in its truest form must extend far beyond the ballot box. It requires the active participation of citizens in decision-making processes and must be rooted in the everyday experiences and struggles of the people. Social movements, in particular, have historically played a vital role in expanding the democratic process and ensuring that it remains alive, dynamic, and inclusive.

Recently, I had the opportunity to attend the Biennale de Pensament in Barcelona, where I listened to thought-provoking discussions on the importance of protecting democracy and the role of participatory democracy in this endeavor. Speakers like Donatella Della Porta, Amador Fernández-Savater, and Claudia Delso Carreira provided powerful insights into how we can strengthen democratic processes by fostering greater citizen involvement and collective action. Their reflections reinforced the idea that participatory democracy is not just a theoretical concept but a practical necessity in the face of growing threats to democratic systems worldwide.

The Limits of Representative Democracy

Representative democracy, though an essential pillar of modern governance, is often insufficient in addressing the complexities and inequalities that exist within society. Elections can too easily become disconnected from the realities of marginalized groups—whether due to gender, class, race, or sexual orientation. Social movements, on the other hand, bring these marginalized voices to the forefront. As one speaker points out, “There are many power dynamics that humiliate certain bodies,” highlighting how systemic oppression targets particular groups. Traditional democratic structures may overlook these issues, but social movements create spaces where those who have been silenced can be heard.

Participatory democracy offers a framework for transforming these frustrations into action. It is not merely about voting once every few years but about engaging directly with the issues that matter most to the people. It is about dialogue, collective problem-solving, and forming alliances across diverse sectors of society. This process of “inventing an identity and forming alliances with people different from you” reflects a more profound democratic engagement—one that allows for the development of a more inclusive society.

The Role of Social Movements in Expanding Democracy

Social movements have always been at the heart of democratic transformation. From labor rights to women’s suffrage, from civil rights to environmental justice, movements are born out of the need to address injustices and bring about change. These movements do more than just demand reforms; they challenge the very structures that perpetuate inequality and offer alternative visions of governance and community.

In recent years, movements such as the Tenants’ Union and grassroots initiatives around the world have demonstrated the power of collective action. One significant example comes from Bolivia, where a community-driven museum challenges colonial narratives by involving indigenous communities as co-authors of the museum’s exhibits. This participatory approach disrupts traditional power dynamics and reshapes the way knowledge is produced and shared. As one observer noted, “We must learn to listen with respect, observe, and change established practices that perpetuate domination.”

By pushing beyond the established limits of representative democracy, social movements remind us that democracy is not static. It must be continuously worked on and protected. These movements have the potential to reshape public spaces, create more equitable institutions, and engage citizens in meaningful ways. They serve as vital incubators for democratic innovation and hold power to account when traditional political structures fall short.

Participatory Democracy as an Antidote to the Market-Driven System

One of the primary challenges facing democracy today is the increasing influence of neoliberal market forces that prioritize profit over people. The dominance of the market system has seeped into every aspect of life, including democratic institutions, turning citizens into consumers rather than active participants. In response, social movements and participatory democracy offer a pathway to reclaim public space from the grips of market logic.

As another commentator pointed out, we are living in a time when “market life fosters selfish behavior,” but our very nature as human beings is built on cooperation. Participatory democracy, when practiced fully, brings people together in a shared space where cooperation, not competition, becomes the guiding principle.

In this light, democracy is not just a tool for governance but a space for building community and solidarity. It provides an alternative to the neoliberal notion of individualism, emphasizing instead collective well-being. The idea that “our cells are designed to cooperate” challenges the belief that democracy must be structured around competition and power struggles. Participatory democracy calls for inclusiveness, deliberation, and shared responsibility for the collective good.

Protecting Democracy in the Face of Reactionary Politics

The rise of far-right movements and populist leaders worldwide represents a significant threat to democracy. These reactionary forces often appeal to people’s fears, manipulating them with misinformation and xenophobia. Social movements, however, can act as a counterforce by promoting informed and empathetic dialogue. The growth of movements that challenge corporate dominance in education, healthcare, and housing demonstrates that citizens are not willing to passively accept these threats to their well-being.

But for these movements to be effective, they must move beyond mere criticism of the system. Critique is important, but as one scholar notes, “Criticism is a way of not wanting anything to change.” Instead of simply pointing out what is wrong, movements must focus on building something better—creating spaces where people can come together to imagine and construct new futures.

It is crucial that social movements continue to expand the meaning of democracy beyond its institutional limitations. Democracy should not be confined to voting once every few years or limited to the decisions of a few elected officials. True democracy requires ongoing engagement and the protection of spaces where citizens can collaborate, challenge power, and work toward a common good.

The Future of Democracy: Building a Collective Project

The challenges facing democracy today are immense, but so are the opportunities. As social movements around the world continue to mobilize, they are showing that democracy can be more than a set of procedures or institutions—it can be a vibrant, participatory process rooted in the everyday lives of citizens.

Building on the lessons from past and present movements, we must continue to expand the scope of democracy, ensuring that it becomes more inclusive, equitable, and responsive to the needs of all people. As one speaker said, “Transformation is not just about the content, but about the ways of doing things.” We must rethink how we practice democracy, and this begins with embracing participatory methods that empower citizens to take an active role in shaping the world around them.

In conclusion, protecting democracy requires more than safeguarding elections or political institutions—it demands fostering a culture of participation, where diverse voices can come together, share their stories, and build new forms of solidarity. Social movements will continue to be the engine driving this transformation, and through them, we can build a democracy that truly works for everyone.

Quotes:

• “Cooperation is not just a tool of resistance, but a fundamental part of our human nature; it is how we have overcome adversity over time.”
• “Transformation is not just about content, but about the ways of doing things.”
• “We must learn to listen with respect, observe, and change established practices that perpetuate domination.”
• “Criticism is a way of not wanting anything to change. The real challenge is to build spaces where we can imagine and create better futures.”
• “Market life fosters selfishness, but our human nature is designed for cooperation.”

In a world where democracy faces constant threats, social movements and participatory democracy remain vital in keeping it alive and meaningful.

Avance arrossegant els peus, que carreguen el dia sencer, però es desenganxen de la vorera i em vaig elevant pel carrer mig buit. Per damunt de paperots i burilles, dels cotxes aparcats en filera. Per damunt de l’aparador de la botiga de marcs i motllures a punt de tancar, del dring dels gots al Sabadelle, acabat d’obrir, i del senyal lluminós de l’hostal Mar de Plata, que mai no s’apaga.

Tres, quatre, cinc metres. Seguisc surant amunt entre edificis. Ja estic a l’alçada de les finestres del segon pis. Passe tan a prop que podria parlar amb els habitants de l’immoble. Escoltar el telenotícies amb l’home de la samarreta de tirants estovat al sofà. Tastar la sopa que ja fa estona que bombolleja, al costat de la taula de cuina del pis d’estudiants. Acariciar les tovalloles esponjoses que Pepa despenja eixutes dels cordills de la galeria.

Set, vuit,  nou metres. Surar em fa sentir lliure. Desapareixen les línies dels adoquins, es desdibuixen les copes dels arbres i les tasques del calendari. Una munió de llumetes desenfocades sembren el paisatge urbà, com si Seurat estigués pintant la poqueta nit del segle XXI: les tireres de fanals groguencs que serpentegen els carrers, els ulls blancs dels cotxes que vénen, i els rojos dels que van, la coreografia en bucle dels cicles semafòrics.

Per mi, és el camí màgic a casa. No totes pensen que ho és de màgic, potser no són conscients del privilegi de travessar la ciutat en vol rasant. Però cap de les persones que suren al meu voltant té pressa. Això és. Això tenim en comú. N’hi ha que passegen de la mà, i d’altres que sostenen una corretja. N’hi ha que pausen el cap amb l’horitzó i n’hi ha que suen l’estrés de la feina a tota virolla. Gossos que s’empaiten. Autofotos temeràries. La xica de les vuit. Però cap tenim pressa.

És un camí flotant que envolta el barri a deu metres d’alçada. Com les anelles de fum de cigarreta que es fan exhalant. O els cinturons d’asteroides de Saturn. Comparable al High Line de Nova York, però sense gentrificar. Sense restriccions horàries ni pol·lució. Amb el pòsit de segles d’històries a sobre. No és cap jardí, però sobrevola el bosc sagrat, i s’hi pot passejar sense detindre’s, perquè al ser un rogle no té principi ni final. 

La xica de les vuit s’abriga sempre amb colls infinits teixits a crochet, i amb barrets de llana. Amb borla. Els hi fa sa mare. Avui els duu blancs, però de colls i barrets en té de molts colors. I sempre combinen, com si eixiren d’una mateixa paleta de tardor, de terra mullada i fulles caigudes. Sempre ens creuem a aquestes hores, però la foscor només ens deixa descobrir-nos quan som molt a prop, amb el temps just de mirar-se de reüll i esbossar un somriure. Perquè per saber si algú et mira als ulls tu l’has de mirar alhora també. O per saber si es gira a veure com t’allunyes. 

Jo no ho sé si es gira quan m’allunye, però continue endavant, pel camí màgic a casa, perquè sé que en pocs minuts ens tornarem a creuar sobrevolant el barri. Fins que de tants instants en fem una estona.

* Referències 

Text inspirat en la vida quotidiana de la muralla de Lugo com a espai públic singular i extraordinari.

• La muralla de Lugo
• La desmaterialització de la muralla
• El bar Sabadelle
• O bosque sagrado
• The High Line, New York
• Georges Seurat
• Coll infinit a crochet
• Publicació original

Image: Dibuix de Juan Creus Andrade per a la publicació “Recinto. Lugo: historia y ciudad”, 2014.

Public space is not neutral. 

Public space is not neutral. 

Public space is not neutral. 

Beirut, Mostar, Nicosia, Jerusalem, Belfast

In each city of these, urban managers under-estimated growing interethnic tensions  until it was so late that violence spread and resulted in physical segregation. Though the walls, fences, and no man’s lands that resulted were generally designed to be temporary, they have considerable staying powers, forcing divided residents to grapple with life “under siege”, confronting their terrors at home without the means of retreat or escape. Even after politicians have secured a peace, the citizens struggle with losses and missed opportunities that are beyond compensation. Along the path to urban partition, a social contract between municipal government and residents is broken. The costs of renegotiations are high. 

Partitioned cities act as a warning beacon for all cities where intercommunal rivalry threatens normal urban functioning and security. Every city contains ethnic fault-lines or boundaries that give shape to “good” and “bad” neighbourhoods and lend local meaning to “the other side of the tracks”. 

These five cities are linked by similar episodes of development in similar sequences and patterns. The events that pushed Belfast, Beirut, Jerusalem, Mostar and Nicosia up to beyond the threshold of ethnic apartheid have much in common. Not all phases are found in each city, but they can be considerable reliable indicators of a propensity towards physical segregation for ethnically diverse societies under stress while undergoing a major social transition:

1. Politicizing ethnicity – merging of political and ethnic identity on a mass scale
2. Clustering – if pressures multiply, the members of a threatened urban community may seek out smaller, more ethnically homogenous clusters for protection. 
3. Political up-scaling – Divided cities function in part as emblems of larger political struggles in which individual enclave residents are enlisted to fight battles not directly serving their personal interests. 
4. Boundary etching – once threatened ethnic communities have retreated into homogenous clusters, and the urban terrain has been converted into political territory, it remains for the battle lines to be formally drawn. 
5. Concretizing – The transformation of these inscribed boundaries, from permeable into impermeable thresholds separating neighbouring reside groups, is a process that relies on purposeful design and execution. Generally, they intended to be temporary in anticipation of diplomatic interventions, however they remained in place for decades. 
6. Consolidating – Once ethnic boundaries have been etched and concretizing in the urban environment, the political climate determines whether municipal authorities will augment or counteract the process of division. 
7. Unifying but not integrating – Due to burdensome inefficiencies of physical segregation in an environment engineered for cooperation, urban partitions are rarely sustainable. Though physical barriers are easily demolished, the social and physical scars that remain are slow to fade. The psychological residue from long periods of violence and intimidation generally prevents residents who live through the period of partition from occupying formerly forbidden areas. 

The typical divided city remains divided as long as  the insecurities that led to intergroup violence remain. Though physical partitions generate new problems and intensify interethnic rivalries in their own right, their removal is necessary but not sufficient condition for the creation of more favourable and equitable conditions in the urban framework.

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* References 

• J. Calame, E. Charlesworth, (2009) Divided cities, University of Pennsylvania Press

• A. Oz, (1994) Israel, Palestine and Peace: Essays on a Paradoxical Situation

• CCCB (2005) Breaking the wall: the social responsability of Palestinian and Israeli Academics and Intellectuals at Times of Violent conflict: An introspective Search

• K. Chrysostomou (2013) Διακοινοτικές σχέσεις σε διαιρεμένες πόλεις: Η περίπτωση της Λευκωσίας (Relacions intercomunitàries en ciutats dividides: el cas de Nicòsia)
  
  
• K. Chrysostomou (2016), Negotiating Cultural Identities in Post Conflict Spaces: The memorial landscapes of Nicosia
  
  
• Photos: Konstantina Chrysostomou, No man’s land in Cyprus