Participation and Democracy in the Futures We Want: Social Actors and New Demands

To envision the futures we want we should consider the ways in which participation and democracy are being challenged and reinvented in different countries at various levels. The political responses to the crisis have had a negative effect on participative schemes of decision-making at organizational and national levels in several democratic societies. Additionally, the last few decades have witnessed national experiences of democratization in countries with a recent past of dictatorship that call for an assessment of the results achieved so far. To understand all these developments it is crucial to voice the demands of different social actors and discuss alternative visions for the future.

What can we learn from the struggles for participation and democracy in different settings and regional contexts? What are the transformative paths that are emerging? How can we move towards a fuller citizenship?

This session welcomes papers that discuss the state of democracy and participation in different countries at all levels, as well as the position of different social actors in the struggles for a better world.