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In many parts of the world, the practices and conceptions of democracy and citizenship learning are in transformation.
Decreasing electoral participation, citizen distrust of politicians and the institutions of formal democracy, and the failure of representative democracy to assure social inclusion and equal opportunities have ignited intense debates about the “democratic deficit”. At the same time, in the field of education there is growing concern with the limitations of the model of traditional education. It is clear that civics training courses and the passive memorization of facts are insufficient to nurture the critical, active, and solidary citizenship necessary for democracy.
Meanwhile, in the last two decades experiments of participatory democracy and citizenship education have proliferated in schools, universities, and civil society organizations, as well as within social movements, cooperatives, workplaces, and regional and local governments. There is now greater consciousness about the potential of collective and democratic learning to promote the common good and human development, to complement representative institutions with collective intelligence, and to deepen democracy.
However, despite the expansion of these innovative practices, they are often weakly linked. International networks are still in an early phase of development. With this conference we hope precisely to narrow this gap, bringing people together to discuss the theoretical and practical intersections between participatory democracy and citizenship learning.
The conference is a continuation of two previous conferences (in 2003 and 2008) organized by the Transformative Learning Centre, OISE-University of Toronto, under the name “Learning Democracy by Doing: Alternative Practices in Citizenship Learning and Participatory Democracy”. Now, for the first time, this conference will take place in Latin America. In particular, it will be held in Rosario, an Argentine city with rich experiences of democratic participation and citizenship education.
We would like to share creative and progressive practices, past or present, of transformative citizenship learning and democratic participation in different contexts. This includes experiences in institutions of formal and non-formal education, civil society organizations, governments, and workplaces. We ask for presentations that analyze both the strengths and weaknesses of initiatives, locate them in their social and historical contexts, and, to the extent possible, propose ways to correct their shortcomings.
The congress will include researchers, academics, urban planners, community organizers, community development workers, and people engaged in primary, secondary, and university education. We also welcome any community members, civil society organizations, and state institutions who are committed to local democracy and active citizenship.
We invite participants from all continents to share experiences and critical reflections in a time of great global transformations. The conference also coincides with the bicentennial celebrations of the independence of many South American countries, including Argentina’s in May 2010. In a time of reflection, we invite you to think: If in the last two centuries we fought to institutionalize civil, political, and social rights, in the 21st century can we spread and deepen democracy as a way of life? If so, how?
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Conference Sites and Logistic Information
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