‘Grassroots projects can help democracy’
Democracy is under pressure all over the world. With the #DemocracyinAction project, university lecturers Sara Brandellero and Kamila Krakowska Rodrigues want to investigate how grassroots art projects manage to keep democracy alive.
‘We often associate democracy with voting,’ Brandellero explains. 'One vote per person in an entire country. Many people no longer feel represented by political institutions at that level, especially if they have a particular racial, ethnic or migration background, for example.'
In contrast, at the community level, people usually do feel heard and seen. ‘If we want to strengthen political institutions, it’s important to find out what makes people in smaller groups feel recognised,’ Brandellero says. ‘We think art plays an important role in this.’
Promoting democracy through culture
Rodrigues adds, ‘In this new research project, in which we are collaborating globally with several universities, policy think tanks, education laboratories and research NGOs, we will therefore explore how to promote political participation, political expression and civic engagement in a positive way through culture.’
'Our Polish partners, for instance, are looking into how gender plays a role in the sense of representation, while in Leiden we will look, among other things, at virtual nightclubs, where people can dance as avatars. In this digital and anonymous environment, you can experiment with your identity characteristics. We are very curious what effect that has on people's sense of being seen.'
From play to policy advice
In that context, they also expect to co-create their own diverse cultural productions. ‘We want to publish not only scientific articles, but also documentaries and plays for the general public,’ Rodrigues says. ‘Then we want to see, for example, what kinds of debates this generates.’
Ultimately, all the different lines of the research and the cultural expressions it has brought together should lead to concrete political advice. The researchers will turn their results into policy recommendations that will be presented to the relevant Directorates-General of the European Commission.
Real start
Rodrigues: ‘That’s something I am very much looking forward to. Before this, I did mostly fundamental research, which was fantastic, but I also think it’s great to work in a more concrete way now.' Brandellero: ‘I am also very much looking forward to really getting started now. In February, we had a kick-off event of a few days in Lisbon with all the partners. We deliberately planned that soon after the start of the project, because there’s a lot to coordinate. We want to make it really collaborative, both within the consortium and with our partners in art and cultural organizations, as we believe this is the best way to bring about change.'
#Democracy in Action is made possible by a grant from the Horizon Europe Work Programme on Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society.