Challenging Power in the Public Debate: The Conversation as a Commons

Abstract

"Today, there is a strong narrative arguing that conditions for policy making is changing, on local as well as global level. Driving forces seem to be the recurrent global social, economic and ecological crises which the present political and economic systems are unable to handle. The underlying contradictions and imbalances that lead to these crises, according to this narrative, are complex and thus demand knowledge and resources from a wide set of actors. Mainly this is supposed to occur in the form of new governance models built on cross-sector collaborations. At the same time, conditions include interdependency, intractable conflicts and high levels of uncertainty. There are also critical changes in the relationship between citizens and the state and the role of citizens (and citizenship) in the public sphere and weariness of state withdrawal."